


The Difference Between

by KDecker25



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-06-08 09:46:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6849400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KDecker25/pseuds/KDecker25
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean swaps places with his counterpart in another universe. Catch is that counterpart is a demon and in the other Universe he and Castiel are a couple. Now they have to figure out how to get the Deans back into their universes, that is if the Deans are ready to go back. Each Castiel is in need of dire help and each Dean can't just leave him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

                Dean smiled at the sandwich he made. He carried the plate to the library and sat down. He picked up the sandwich and sank his teeth into it. He moaned in pleasure as he savored it.

                “Well, that sounds like fun,” It was Cas. He came down the stairs with a smile at Dean.

                “It’s delicious,” Dean replied and took another bite. Cas came over to him and put a hand on the back of his neck.

                “You’re delicious,” Cas said and turned Deans face towards him and kissed him. Dean went wide eyed in shock. Cas paused and quickly pulled away.

                “Well, Cas, which porn did you learn that one?” Dean asked. Cas looked at him with the most concerned look.

                “Cas, the only reason I am not punching your lights out is because it’s you and you’ve never grasped the whole boundaries thing, not to mention-,” Dean spoke as calmly as he could but was interrupted by Cas.

                “You’re not Dean,” Cas said and let go of him.

                “I’m sorry?” Dean asked. Cas grabbed his right arm and pulled up the sleeve.

                “Where’s the mark?”  Cas asked.

                “The mark of Cain? You and Sam got it removed remember? You helped Rowena cast the spell to remove it,” Dean told him.

                “No, I stopped Rowena from finishing the spell because you were about to kill Sam. I felt your pain, I came to you and stopped you.” Cas said.

                “Cas, what are you talking about?” Dean asked.

                “Where am I?” Cas asked and began to look around.

                “Cas, calm down,” Dean said but Cas backed away. Dean got to his feet and tried to reach for Cas.

                “No, Cas!” Dean could tell Cas was about to pop out. Cas disappeared.

                “Damnit,”

                “What’s wrong?” Sam asked as he wandered in to the library.

                “Uh…something is up with Cas, I’m starting to think alternate universe. Normally I’d say he’s just having an episode but he’s very alert this time,” Dean said.

                “So what makes you think it’s not our Cas?” Sam asked. Dean looked up at him and became un easy.

                “Well, it’s…uhm…”

                “What?”

                “He…he kissed me alright!?” Dean blurted and shook his whole body.

                “It took every fiber of my being not to kill him! He just grabbed me and laid one on me!” Dean shouted, he was flustered. Sam laughed.

                “Oh yeah, laugh it up!”

                “What’s the big deal about him kissing you? You two are married!” Sam said. Dean paused and looked at him.

                “One more time?”

                “Yeah, ever since you told him you loved him and broke Naomi’s control over him the two of you have been together,” Sam explained.

                “No, I told him we were family and that I _needed_ him, not love. Well, I mean yeah I love the guy he’s one of my brothers!” Dean replied.

                “Brothers? Maybe Cas isn’t the one from another universe-,” Sam started.

                “It’s you,” Cas appeared behind Dean. Dean turned around.

                “Think I would have noticed hopping universes, it’s never happened smoothly before!” Dean replied.

                “Well, you are what’s different, where is my husband!?” Cas growled with a fierce glare at Dean. Dean backed away and bumped into the table, he had never been on the receiving end of that look before.

                “Easy, Cas, we’ll figure this out,” Sam said stepping in between them.

                “How do we know he’s not hurt?” Cas asked.

                “We don’t Cas, I’m thinking they just switched places, maybe the ones on the other side were casting a spell, we’ll figure it out. Dean’s a Demon he can defend himself,” Sam assured the angel.

                “He’s a demon!?” Dean asked.

                “Yes, long story-,”

                “Wait, if we swapped places, you mean to tell me there’s a demon over there with my brother!? I almost killed him when I was a demon, you have to get me back there!” Dean growled. 

                “Your Sam will be fine, as soon as our Dean lays eyes on Cas he’ll be fine,” Sam said. Dean shook his head.

                “Cas isn’t always Cas right now,” Dean started.

                “What?”

                “After they removed the Mark of Cain and unleashed the darkness we were pretty desperate to defeat that bitch. We talked to someone who was there the first time the darkness was around,” Dean began to explain.

                “Lucifer,” Cas said. Sam looked to Cas and back to Dean.

                “The other me…Did he-?” Sam tried to ask.

                “No, he talked to Lucifer but couldn’t do it, said we’d find another way. Lucifer kept insisting that he could beat her but Sam said no. Cas…on the other hand…Cas believed him,” Dean said.

                “And he said yes,” Cas finished. Dean nodded.

                “Yeah and we took care of the Darkness and got Lucifer out but Cas…was damaged. Sometimes he’s himself, sometimes he’s not. That was another reason why I didn’t hit you when you kissed me.” Dean said.

                “What do you mean, not himself?” Sam asked.

                “Well, last night he knocked over some ancient reliquary in the library and I found him trying to put it back together, it was in a thousand shards, his hands were cut to hell and back he was using his blood like glue. I called out to him and he…he acted like a child and I was his dad he was asking me for help with his puzzle. Then there’s been several occasions where he speaks nothing but Enochian for days. We’ve been trying to find a spell, something to put him back together…he barely has any grace left, just enough to keep him alive,” Dean looked away.

                “You blame yourself for this?” Cas asked, looking into Dean’s eyes. Dean took a deep breath.

                “I should have noticed it wasn’t Cas sooner, should have gotten Lucifer out of there before the fight! Cas already had the Hell Madness inside him and Lucifer just reignited it, made it worse than ever,” Dean growled.

                “And you keep him with you in the bunker?” Sam asked.

                “We had him in an institution, then one afternoon Crowley pops in with him saying that Cas was summoning demons and trying to smite them in the middle of the hospital. He had no power to smite with so he was just pissing the demons off. So we brought him home. Sam and I take turns staying with him and going on hunts,” Dean said. Cas sighed and looked at Sam.

                “He won’t come back, not until that Cas is well,”

                “You sure?”

                “Yes, once he sees how damaged the other version of me is, he’s going to do everything he can to fix him, because he’d want someone to take care of me if it were reversed.” Cas answered. He backed away from Dean and took off his trench coat and hung it on a chair. Cas pulled out the chair and Dean looked up at him. He saw drops of blood in two line down Cas’ back before he sat down.

                “What’s wrong with your back?” Dean asked. Cas gave a halfhearted laugh.

                “Nothing big comparative to my counterpart from your world. I just had my wings ripped off,” Cas said. Dean winced at the thought.

                “Someone can do that?” Dean asked.

                “Yeah, the collector, has Cas’ wings mounted on his wall,” Sam griped.

                “Collector? Like the nut job that had the first blade?”

                “Kind of, his rival actually. Whereas the one you met wanted complete sets, this one wants unique items. Like an angels wings without the rest of the angel, tells more of a story for him,” Sam answered.

                “Ripping off an Angels wings…ugh…how though, humans can’t even see your wings, we can only see their shadows when you power up to smite someone,” Dean said.

                “He used a spell to reveal them and then used the power he stole from a demon to…get them off,” Cas explained.

                “You okay? I can run and get you a bottle of Advil to last you a few hours,” Dean offered Cas smiled at him.

                “Thank you Dean, I’m fine,” Cas said.

                “I guess I can start looking into a way to get the Dean’s back to their universes,” Sam said.

                “Good, me and Cas…we’re gonna get his wings back,” Dean said and sat back down next to Cas. Cas looked to him.

                “If he’s taking care of my Cas, I’m taking care of his,” Dean said definitively.

* * *

 

                Demon Dean stretched and yawned as he woke up. He sat up on the couch in the library.

                “Cas, why didn’t you wake me!?” Dean yelled out into the bunker.

                “You were relying on Cas to wake your ass up? That’s brave,” Sam said. Dean raised an eyebrow and looked over the couch to the table.

                “Did you make any progress on Cas’ wings?”

                “You mean his sanity?” Sam asked. Dean gave him a strange look.

                “What?” Dean asked. Cas came in to the library and stopped in his tracks. He starred at Dean.

                “Hey gorgeous,” Dean said with a smile.

                “Do RahVe Mot!” Cas yelled at Sam.

                “Sam! Do Rahve!” Cas ran to Sam and pulled him out of his chair.

                “I really wish we spoke Enochian, Cas! We don’t understand you buddy!” Sam said and tried to hold Cas still. Cas continued to talk in Enochian to Sam and then when Dean got to his feet Cas put himself between Sam and Dean. He began yelling very threateningly at Dean.

                “He is saying ‘Run Sam, it’s a demon, Run!’ RahVe, Run, RahVe,” Dean translated as he walked towards them. Cas pushed Sam towards the door as he bit his own hand to make himself bleed.

                “Easy Cas, it’s just Dean!” Sam said. Cas pushed him again and got on the ground to draw a quick Devils trap.

                “What the hell’s wrong with him?” Dean growled.

                “You know what’s wrong with him Dean, and how can you understand him all of a sudden?” Sam snapped at him as Cas kept pushing him back.

                “Cas!” Dean tried again.

                “Just walk across it and I’d bet he’ll relax,” Sam said. Dean did walk across the trap and wrapped his arms around Cas. Cas panicked and grabbed Deans face and tried to smite him. There was a faint glow as Cas genuinely tried to give the last of his grace to smite the demon he saw. Dean flinched but it didn’t work and Cas passed out in Deans arms.

                “Cas!?” Dean asked and looked him over. When he realized he had only passed out he calmed.

                “Man, that fit was a bad one, I think we need to talk about putting him back in an institution. That reliquary he broke yesterday, it could have been a lot worse. He could have gotten into the cursed objects in the vault.” Sam ranted. Dean looked up at him.

                “What the hell are you talking about?” Dean asked.

                “Dean he thought you were a demon!”

                “I am! I’m a knight of hell! That weak of a trap doesn’t work on me,” Dean said and made his eyes go black. Sam gasped and jumped back.

                “What the hell is going on!?” Sam asked. Cas took a breath and opened his eyes.

                “There we go, Cas baby, you alright?” Dean asked.

                “Do Rah tevah Ma kote,” Cas spoke as he looked Dean in the eyes.

                “Different Universe?” Dean asked and looked up to Sam.

                “Different universe? You got sucked here from another universe…where is the Dean from this universe?” Sam asked. Dean looked at him and shook his head.

                “You want to know what’s sad, Sammy? That our lives are so whacked out that people jumping into other universes doesn’t even cause us to bat an eye.” Dean replied. Sam shrugged.

                “So catch me up, what’s wrong with Cas?” Dean asked.

                “The short answer is Lucifer, Cas allowed himself to be possessed to defeat the darkness. We won but Lucifer didn’t leave without a fight,” Sam answered.

                “The darkness? It was unleashed?” Dean asked. Sam nodded. He saw how Dean was cradling Cas to him.

                “Yeah, Death was going to take you to a safe place, if you agreed to kill me. Well, you couldn’t do it, you killed death. Then Cas, Rowena, and Crowley cast the spell to remove the mark of Cain and the Darkness was freed,” Sam said.

                “See in my universe, I was about to kill you, Cas stopped the spell, came to me, he talked Death out of taking me, that he could keep me in check. His immortality would guarantee the Mark of Cain would forever have a keeper. Death agreed and even restored Cas’ full grace to make sure of it. He let Cas bring me home,” Dean explained.

                “You’re still a demon, we injected our Dean with human blood and Cas helped purify him.” Sam said.

                “Never got that far. Crowley awakened me and tried to take me with him. He wouldn’t tell me where Cas was. I beat Crowley within an inch of his existence and went to find Cas. I found him dying in a hotel room because he and Sam had split up trying to find me. The grace he had to steal was almost completely faded. I stayed by his side. I even force fed him grace until we busted Metatron out of heaven and got his own grace back,” Dean explained.

                “So the demon never got out of hand? You weren’t…evil?” Sam asked. Dean smiled.

                “Of course I was evil but Cas, he kept me from acting evil. I had the power to kill him with a wave of my hand but the idea of hurting him crippled me. Essentially, now that I’ve learned to control it, I am myself with access to demonic powers,” Dean explained.

                “Cas, kept you in check? How?”

                “It was just like Cain said being with the love of his life kept him in control,” Dean said.

                “Love?”

                “Cas is my husband,” Dean said. Sam looked at him wide eyed.

                “…Oh…how…how, how long?” Sam fumbled over his words.

                “Since Naomi tried to make him kill me, been together ever since.” Dean said. Cas reached up and began tapping Dean’s nose. Dean raised an eyebrow but smiled down at the angel. Dean began tapping Cas’ nose too. The angel began to laugh.

                “Yeah, you were like this when you took the hell madness away from Sam, weren’t you?” Dean said to him.

                “Have you been playing with bees lately?” Dean asked him. Cas smiled.

                “The light, flies, it bounces, and flies at everything. It floats and it bites. Then I try to hold it in my hands, I can’t catch it, it flutters away,” Cas rambled, motioning with his hands. Cas froze and looked at his hand, at the bite mark he made and his hand began to shake. Dean took the hand and kissed the wound

                “All better,” Dean said. Cas starred off into space and brought the hand to his chest.

                “Oh, we need to fix this!” Dean said and looked up to Sam. Cas sat up, then got to his feet. Dean reached up and grabbed his hand.

                “Where you going, honey?” Dean asked. Cas looked down at him.

                “I am the Angel of Thursday, made from the speed of God,” Cas told him.

                “Yeah you are!” Dean smiled at him. Cas grinned and laughed. He patted Dean’s head and walked back into the Library. Dean got to his feet and followed him. Sam followed them both as Cas wandered into the garage. Dean’s mind was racing.

Cas got on the ground and stared at the Impala’s hub caps. He reached out and began to trace the edges of the metal.

                “Last time he was crazy, when he took the hell madness from you, he was sort of recovering on his own but he didn’t start talking right again until we went to purgatory…” Dean spoke up and looked to Sam.

                “Purgatory?” Sam asked. Dean nodded.

                “You said it took you months to find him who knows how long it actually took to clear his head,” Sam said. Dean shook his head

                “It was almost instant, because we got there and he realized he was a friggin’ leviathan magnet and took off,” Dean answered and sat down next to Cas.

                “Even if you could get to Purgatory how are you going to get back?”

                “Being a demon I can go from purgatory, to hell, and out from there. I can drag him with me and I can eat those damn leviathans for breakfast. Wish I was a knight of hell the first time around with those bastards, especially Dick!” Dean ranted. Sam thought about it for a minute.

                “I guess it could work,” Sam remarked. Cas got on all fours and crawled to the rear hub cap. Dean followed him.

                “Are you going to follow him everywhere?” Sam asked, he was still on his feet.

                “Well yes, he may be off his rocker but he needs to know he’s not alone, he doesn’t sleep and I don’t have to sleep. I sleep out of boredom, a gift from being a human demon hybrid or whatever I am. I can watch over him” Dean answered.

“Uh, Cas you gonna get a room? I need my four hours, that’s not happening,” Cas said as he took off his shirt, bundled it up, and laid back across the ground using the shirt as a pillow. Dean laughed to himself as he remembered that conversation. Dean looked Cas over out of habit. And something on the angel’s ribs caught his eye.

                “What’s that huh? A Tattoo? Tattoos are sexy,” Dean smiled and touched the tattoo on Cas’ ribs. Cas laughed and curled towards Dean.

                “Oh did that tickle?” Dean asked and touched Cas’s stomach. The angel laughed and grabbed Dean’s wrists.

                “It’s his angel warding tattoo, he got it when he was running from the angels. He was human and could only do so much by himself against angels. So he got the tattoo.” Sam said.

                “After Metatron stole his grace?”

                “Right,”

                “You and the other…me weren’t with him?” Dean asked.

                “No, we had no idea where he was, when I was feeling well enough we went out and found him. He was taking too long to get to us. We would have been too late if I wasn’t possessed by an angel at the time,”

                “The more I hear, our worlds are just alike but so very different. Cas called right after the fall, I went and picked him up while you were still in a coma, after I found out he was human was when I put out that all broadcast call and got you possessed by Gadreel,” Dean recalled. Sam shook his head.

                “For us, Dean called the angels, Gadreel came to him, then later Gadreel found the reaper the angels were using to hunt Cas. Then when we got Cas back Gadreel talked you into kicking him out of the bunker to protect me, Gadreel didn’t want Cas realizing he was there,” Sam said.

                “He was alone? You saved him and then put him back out in the cold?” Dean began to growl.

                “I didn’t realize what was going on, Dean told me Cas did it to protect us like when he disappeared with the angel tablet,” Sam said. Dean gave him a strange look.

                “Disappeared? He stayed in contact the whole time he was gone,” Dean said. Sam gave him a strange look. He got down on the ground on the other side of Cas.

                “Okay, I want the whole story, we’ll only go as far back as purgatory, You and Cas got sucked in after you killed Dick,” Sam said. Dean nodded.

                “Well, hang on did Cas do the whole God thing on your side too?” Sam asked.

                “Yes, thought he died in the river, found him going by Emmanuel. He fixed you, then the whole Dick thing, then the trip to purgatory,” Dean said.

                “Okay, then…”                                                                                         

                Dean and Sam told each other their stories while Cas fell asleep on the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

                “Wait, what do you mean the two of you stayed in contact?” Dean asked Cas. Cas smiled. They both were reclined in their chairs, feet up on the table in the library. Sam sat across from them on his computer. He was going through everything he could to find information on other universes. He mostly listened to Cas and Dean talk.

                “I would borrow other customers phones and call him, text him. Told him about my plan to confuse the angels by hopping between Biggersons. Then he started talking to me through the personal ads in the national newspaper that was available at all the restaurants. The angels for the life of them couldn’t figure out why I would read the newspaper and drink coffee. It confused the hell out of them,” Cas said. Dean laughed.

                “You were talking through personal ads?”

                “Yes and thank goodness we were talking in code otherwise some of the messages would not have been published, several of them were quite inappropriate,” Cas said.

                “What?”

                “They were descriptions of what he wanted to do to me when he saw me again…” Cas tried to hint around it.

                “Oh! Sending dirty notes in the newspaper, wow…that is totally something I would do,” Dean smiled.

                “He enjoyed it thoroughly, until of course Naomi and Crowley caught up with me. At least I got Kevin pictures of it before losing it,” Cas said.

                “Oh! The angel tablet!” Sam said and began pulling up the translated notes. Kevin had been able to fully translate it before being killed my Gadreel in the universe. Dean looked over at him and then back to Cas.

                “So how did you run into Metatron?” Dean asked.

                “Dean and Sam went out to find the priest in the movie we watched and told me to stay because I wasn’t healing right from when Crowley cut the tablet out of my gut. Dean wanted me to rest. I didn’t listen, I went out to get Dean snacks and pie since we were running out of food. Metatron popped in on me…” Cas answered. Dean nodded.

                “Okay then, the third trial, Metatron stole your grace, the angels fell, you went on the run, Sammy slipped into a coma, then Gadreel talked me into believing he was Ezekiel and into letting him possess Sam,” Dean remembered the next events.

                “I was never on the run, He came and got me, and then Gadreel showed up. Since I had no grace I couldn’t recognize whether he was Ezekiel or not,” Cas said

                “Lucky you, my Cas spent weeks running from the angels, being homeless, hoping from shelter to shelter, when we finally caught up to him he had spent the night in an abandoned bus. He was being tracked by a reaper, since the angels couldn’t find him,” Dean said.

                “Why couldn’t they find him?”

                “Oh, he somehow scrounged up enough money to get an Enochian tattoo on his ribs,” Dean answered. Dean looked towards the desk and got quiet

                “So, he was on the run, you found him, then I suppose you got into the whole factions of angels. The bombers…that was a rough time,” Cas said. He looked at Dean and noticed him spacing out.

                “What? You didn’t have the army of angels?” Cas asked.

                “He died,” Dean said.

                “The other Cas?”

                “Yeah, the reaper killed him, if Gadreel hadn’t of been in Sam, he would have stayed dead. Then we bring him home just to kick him out. On the run, homeless for weeks, not ever feeling safe, getting stabbed in the heart, then he thinks he gets to come home, to safety…and I kicked him out,” Dean growled at himself.

                “I’m sure you had good reason,” Cas said. Dean looked at him.

                “Yeah, Gadreel, to save his own hide, said if I didn’t get rid of Cas then he would leave Sam and let him die, he wasn’t healed yet. So I gave up one brother for another,” Dean said.

                “Oh Dean, if there is one truth that echoes across all universes. Even being Dean Winchesters husband instead of brother, I know he would never hold me above Sam. I would never make him choose either,” Cas said. Dean looked at him but didn’t say anything. Sam looked up uncomfortably from his computer but didn’t add to the conversation.

                “So, he was on his own again…was he alright?” Cas changed the subject.

                “Yeah, I found him again later, he was adapting to human life really well, it was after that we got into the whole Angel army bullshit. Man did those winged bastards hate me but Cas told them to fuck off when they made him choose between me and them,” Dean said. Cas smiled.

            “I remember doing something similar but they didn’t make me choose, they took him,” Cas said. Dean raised his eyebrows.

            “They took him?”

             “Yes, they were going to execute him for being with me, distracting me. I killed three of them before they backed off. I think the ‘fuck off’ was implied,” Cas said. Dean laughed.

             “Oh what was after that?” Cas asked.

             “Metatron? Cas went to find Metatron himself and I got the mark of Cain to go after Abadon,” Dean said. Cas cringed.

              “Ugh, the mark of Cain! I was livid when I found out, I didn’t speak to him for days!” Cas replied. Sam laughed from across the table.

              “That almost killed him you know!” Sam remarked.

              “I know, that was the point…wait didn’t hit him to?” Cas said, Dean laughed.

              “No, you geared up to but you stopped, told him to take care of Abandon on his own, and you disappeared. Then you wouldn’t answer his prayers…at all,” Sam replied. Cas nodded.

               “I was so mad,” Cas replied. Dean laughed again.

               “Yeah, my Cas was pretty pissed too, but we left him to deal with the angels, I was pretty focused on Abandon.”

               “So was he, now I did listen to his prayers, if he had gotten into real danger I would have come to him I just didn’t want him to know that. As mad as I was though he would have died when Metatron stabbed him without the mark. That almost killed me...I wasn't there with him, he was alone, he didn't have any backup, and he got killed...well not actually killed because of the mark but still. I got out of heaven after getting Metatron taken care of in heavens jail and I come home to see the man I love dead in his brothers arms...that was a horrible day," Cas said and starred at the table.

               "Were you on stolen grace then too?" Dean asked, he saw how much is hurt his Sam. It hurt this Sam as well but the pain he saw in Cas...it was intense and Dean wanted to keep them going. Cas looked up to him and thought about it. 

                "Yes, I was...that's another thing about the mark. I would have died too if Dean hadn’t of found me after waking up as a demon and eventually force fed me grace.” Cas said.

                “Found you? I remember traveling with Crowley after becoming a demon,” Dean said.

                “Crowley tried to get Dean to travel with him but he woke up wanting to find me. Crowley wasn’t being helpful and Dean turned on him. Apparently his desires were intensified as a demon.” Cas said. Dean smirked at him.

                “Oh, yeah? Did you two have a good time when he found you?” Dean asked. Cas blushed and grinned. He looked away.

                “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,”

                “Hey I don’t judge,”

                “Well then it is one of the better memories with my husband that I would like to keep to myself, but I will tell you he scared the crap out of me when he busted down the door with those black eyes on,” Cas replied. Dean laughed.

                “Yeah, I bet.”  Dean replied.

                “Our Dean doesn’t remember it so fondly,” Sam said.

                “Really?” Dean asked.

                “I scared him, he didn’t realize how weak I was. I passed out on him and he freaked out a little.  He took care of me after that, which for him being a demon he had a lot of humanity left. It was endearing that instead of embracing his evil side with Crowley as his tutor he found and cared for me…and that he beat Crowley senseless in the process,” Cas said.

               “Huh maybe I should have tried that,” Dean remarked.

               “Okay, we’re at you being a demon…” Cas said, getting them back on topic.

               “Right, well, after raising hell for a while, Sam caught me and cured me with Cas’ help. Then we get into the whole removing the mark, unleashing the darkness, Cas letting Lucifer in, defeating the darkness, and Lucifer going back to hell uncooperatively. That catches us up to now. But to you the Demon Dean never got out of hand enough to cure but frightening enough to try and remove the mark?” Dean asked. Cas took a deep breath.

                “Yes, Dean was snapping easier and easier. He killed those that it was not necessary. Even I was starting to not be enough. One day, he snapped on me, beat the crap out of me, and was going to kill me with my angel blade. At the last moment he seemed to wake up out of it, I’d never seen him feel so guilty. He was in tears, I kept telling him I was alright but he wouldn’t let go of me until Sam got there. That’s when he decided he wanted the mark gone. Charlie helped us find the book of the damned and translate it with Rowena’s help.” Cas explained.

                 Dean flashed back to when he beat the crap out of Cas when he tried to keep Dean in the bunker to help him. They shared the experience of Dean attacking Cas because of the mark but they were very different events.

                “You going to sugar coat it like that? What he actually did?” Sam asked. Cas glared over at Sam.

                “I’ve forgiven him, he’s redeemed himself, and this Dean doesn’t need the gory details.” Cas said sternly. He turned back to Dean and continued.

                “Anyway, Charlie and I were supposed to see to it that the spell happened when Death popped up. I stopped the spell and I had to talk Dean down. I had to convince him that it was just a slip up, we let our guards down. We got too comfortable. After him taking care of me made me forgetful that he was also a very powerful demon. I went on about how we could do it, how I’d be there for all eternity for him. I think I convinced Death more than Dean because Death restored my grace to full strength. Then let’s see, you know about my wings and I know about Cas and Lucifer, we are indeed caught up,” Cas finished.

                “So Charlie is alive?” Dean asked. Cas and Sam looked at each other and nodded.

                “Yeah, I think shes in Russia right now,” Cas replied. Dean laughed with a grin.

                “I’ll be damned…Our Charlie, she got killed translating the book of the damned. The Frankenstein’s came after her. I didn’t even know they were working on the book of the damned, Sam told me he had destroyed it.” Dean replied.

                “I’m sorry,” Cas told him. Dean took a deep breath and forced a smile at him.

                “We’ve been talking for over an hour and we haven’t mentioned your wings, I’m sorry” Dean groaned and sat up in the chair.

                “Have we really been talking for over an hour?” Cas questioned.

                “Yes,” Sam piped up.

                “Isn’t it amazing? Our lives differ so much because of one word. Love and need. Though mine ended in a kiss and yours ended up in the friend zone,” Cas said. Dean gave him a dumbfounded look.

                “I…can’t decide if I want to laugh at that or not,” Dean replied. Cas laughed.

                “I need a beer,” Dean said and got up.

                “I assume you know where the kitchen is,” Cas said.

                “Yep” Dean left the library.

                They didn’t notice the vase on the wall, it had writing on it and the writing flashed a soft blue before fading.

* * *

 

                Demon Dean was sprawled out on his stomach next to Cas.   They were on the landing at the top of the spiral stairs in the library. They had their arms folded in front of them and their heads on their arms. Cas looked at Dean and began speaking in Enochian.

                “I’m so tired,” Cas said. Dean raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

                “Tired of what?” Dean asked, speaking back in Enochian. Cas looked at him wide eyed.

                “You understand me?” Cas asked.

                “Yes,”

                “How?”

                “My Cas taught me Enochian, usually while we were lying in bed together.” Dean smirked. Cas gave him a strange look.

                “In bed together…you are a couple?” Cas asked. Cas looked confused. He held up his hand towards Deans head.

                “May I? It would save time,” Cas asked.

                “Of course,” Dean leaned his head forward. Cas touched his head and witnessed his memories. Cas smiled when he was caught up.

                “All things considered you have a happy life, I am impressed that you’ve become so accustomed to being a demon, you wield the power like a weapon instead of letting it wield you. It actually seems to be helping you bare the mark of Cain,” Cas said Dean smiled.

                “I thank Cas for that, you know you are sounding very lucid right now,” Dean remarked. Cas nodded.

                “Yes, I can usually hold this state for a while if I try otherwise it might last a few minutes on its own. It outright disappears if I try to speak English,” Cas said. Dean looked at him and wondered for a minute.

                “Could you give me your memories?” Dean asked. Cas gave him an uneasy expression.

                “My mind is very fragmented, I could end up hurting you,” Cas said. Dean made his eyes go black.

                “Try me,”

                Cas reached forward and touched him again and tried to transfer the memories. He got as far as defeating the Darkness.

                “I am not comfortable going any further, I don’t want to pull you into my madness,” Cas told him. Dean processed the memories and nodded.

                “You’ve had it rough, I’m sorry,” Dean said and reached a hand out and ran his fingers through Cas’ hair. Cas laid his head back down on his arms and Dean could see him fading.

                “Come on, Cas hang on a little longer, talk with me,” Dean said. Cas fought to focus and looked to Dean.

                “You want to take me to Purgatory?” Cas asked.

                “Yeah, it seemed to clear your head last time,” Dean said.

                “How would we get out?” Cas asked.

                “Through hell, I’m strong enough to move freely through hell and I am getting really good at teleporting.” Dean said. Cas nodded.

                “Maybe the two of you were switched for a reason. The person who has your husband’s wings is warded against angels and demons, my Dean is not an angel or a demon. Then you have the power to take me to Purgatory. I broke just the right reliquary,” Cas laughed and laid his head back down on his head. He giggled and looked down the stairs.

                “You broke that on purpose?” Dean asked. Cas rolled onto his back and reached towards the ceiling like he was trying to catch something.

                “Cas? Ugh!” Dean groaned, Cas had slipped away. 

                “That was a long conversation, was he making any sense?” Sam asked, he was trying to find the record they made from when they opened Purgatory to save Bobby.

                “Yes, actually, he was clear as a bell. He’s sane when he’s speaking his home language, it doesn’t last long though.” Dean said, looking down the stairs.

                “I think the hardest ingredient to get is going to be the blood if I can find the damn spell!” Sam grumbled. Sam paused and looked up at him.

                “Hey uh…” He started.

                “Dean…it’s my name,” Dean said.

                “Yeah…I know…I’m sorry. It’s just…it’s nice you’re being so good to Cas but…he’s not all there so how about you keep the affectionate touching and feeling to a minimum,” Sam said.

                “Touching and Feeling?” Dean questioned.

                “Playing with his hair…” Sam started. Dean felt rebellious and leaned over and grabbed Cas’ face and kissed his cheek. Cas giggled and rolled to his side to kiss Dean on the cheek as well. Dean gave Sam a look just asking him what he was going to do about it.

                “Dean, Stop it! He is not your Cas! Leave him alone! He doesn’t understand what’s going on!” Sam said. Demon glared down at him and teleported. He appeared right in front of Sam and stood up to him.

                “Don’t you dare question my loyalty to my husband! Even if that was the same angel at the top of the stairs I wouldn’t take advantage of him in his condition. Learn to realize the difference between harmless affection and a man trying to get into someone’s pants!” Dean growled. Sam had to look away as he tried not to reveal how intimidated he was by the demon standing in front of him.

                “Now as for the spell, check your God damned Journal,” Dean added and teleported back to Cas’ side. Cas jolted but didn’t do anything. Sam took a breath and looked towards the dormitories. He walked to his room to check his journal for the spell.

                Dean sat up and leaned against the railing.

                “What reliquary?” Dean asked. Cas looked up at him in confusion.

                “Crowley stole the bees,” Cas spoke in English.

                “That bastard,” Dean replied.

                “Right!?” Cas responded. Dean couldn’t help but laugh.

 


	3. Chapter 3

“So why can’t Sammy go into this place?” Human Dean asked over to Cas.

                “When angels possess a vessel we leave behind a signature, a piece of grace, it’s to let other angels know that they are good vessels, we keep track of how many times a vessel has been possessed and by who. It’s also used to ward off demon possession. Demons won’t take someone who’s been an angelic vessel if they can avoid it.” Cas explained.

                “And it’s enough to set off the angel wards?” Dean asked. Cas nodded.

                “Yes, especially since Sam’s been possessed by two angels before.” Cas said.

                “I touched the door last time and got transported to Australia. I had to pray to Cas and he came and got me,” Sam told him.

                “Have either of you been in this place?” Dean asked.

                “Dean went with Crowley when Crowley got invited to an auction at this guy’s place, He saw the wings. He tried to get close and got blasted by a spell that’s around them,” Sam answered.

                “My ears are burning,” Crowley said from behind them. Crowley was at the top of the steps. He sauntered down them as he talked.

                “So has the Scooby clan come up with any new bright ideas to get back the birdies wings?” He asked.

                “We could have something up our sleeves,” Dean responded. Cas reached over and put a hand over Deans wrist and brushed his fingers up and down Dean’s palm. Dean tensed but went along with it after one look at Cas. The Angel was watching Crowley. Dean could feel Cas didn’t trust the demon.

                “Oh yeah? Which country will you morons get blasted to this time I wonder?” Crowley asked. Dean raised eyebrow at him.

                “I take it you came in here with an idea of your own,”

                “Actually I got word that the wings may be for sale for the right price. I figured I could purchase them for you, I know you boys tend to be short on cash,” Crowley offered. Dean laughed at him.

                “Right? And owe you a favor, not just a favor a favor involving money, you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart?” Dean asked.

                “Well, if I’ve heard about this offer others have too. You know how many witches alone would love a set of angel wings? Imagine what they could do with all those feathers?” Crowley said.

                “Then we need to move fast don’t we and we can do it without making a withdrawal from Hell Bank and Trust,” Dean said.

                “Your funeral gentlemen, thought I’d help”

                “Awful sweet of you, we swear we won’t tell anyone you’ve been so nice to us,” Dean smiled. Crowley glared at him and headed back up the staircase.

                After he was gone Cas let go of Deans hand.

                “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to risk the chance of him knowing you’re not the same Dean. Crowley is at best unpredictable,” Cas said.

                “Oh no, I got your vibe, we’re cool,” Dean said.

                “I think I may be coming up with a plan.” Dean added.

                “Great,” Cas said and leaned forward in the chair. Dean noticed the blood stains on his back had gotten a lot bigger.

                “Wow, Cas I think we need to change those bandages, you’re bleeding through pretty badly.” Dean said. Cas looked over his shoulder and groaned. He took off his shirt and set it on the table. The bandages were soaked through.

                “Alright, hang on,” Dean said and got to his feet.

                “First aid kit is in the same spot right?” Dean asked as he got up.

                “Ugh no, it’s in our room, Dean’s has had to rebandage me every night, First door on the right,” Cas told him.

                “My room,” Dean said as he left the library.

                Dean walked into the room and looked around. It wasn’t much different from his own room except for a few different types on angelic weapons hanging on the walls with his own weapons. Cas’ clothes in the closet with his. There were also pictures on the wall.

                “Wow, that’s cool,” Dean said and picked on up. It was a black and white close up of Cas and Dean’s eyes, Cas’s eyes were glowing blue with his grace and Dean had his eyes black.

                “First aid kit,” Dean reminded himself and put the photo back. He was distracted by a phone on the nightstand. He picked it up. It looked like his phone, he tried the password and it worked. He began flipping through the phone until he got to pictures. He had taken a picture of Cas’ wings on the wall and all the sigils he found in the place.

                “Jesus Christ, they’re huge,” Dean remarked as he looked at the images. He got a good look at everything. He flipped another picture and ended up seeing inappropriate pictures between his counterpart and Cas.

                “Wow, Cas you dirty boy, sending pictures like that to your man…good for you,” Dean laughed to himself and exited out of the gallery and locked the phone back. He looked around the room again and saw the medical kit on the dresser. He grabbed it and returned to the library.

                He set the kit on the table and Cas leaned forward in this chair. Dean began to gently peal the soaked bandages off of Cas’ back.

                “Sam, are you finding anything?” Cas asked. He needed to distract himself. Sam looked up and gave Cas a sympathetic look.

                “Not really, the only time we’ve even seen alternate universes is Oz, That time Balthazar sent us to another universe-,” Sam started.

                “Oh, yeah, I don’t know how actors do it man…still feel bad about Misha though…” Dean replied.

                “What are you talking about?” Sam asked.

                “When Balthazar sent us to another universe to distract Raphael, we went to a universe where none of this was real, it was all in a show, they couldn’t even use magic over there, it was kinda of nice. Misha was the name of the guy who played Cas, one of Raphael’s lackeys slit his throat, where did you guys end up?” Dean asked.

                “In a universe where we were all born women, we weren’t turned into women we met ourselves as women and Dean wanted to sleep with himself,” Sam said. Dean laughed at the thought.

                “That’s not sex that’s masturbating,” Dean muttered to himself. Cas laughed and looked back at him.

                “That’s exactly what he said,” Sam replied. Dean laughed as he got the bandage all the way off. His laughter came to a dead halt and he resisted a gasp at the sight of the two gaping wounds on Cas’ back.

                “Holy crap Cas! When did you lose your wings?” Dean asked. They were very raw, very fresh looking wounds.

                “Almost two weeks ago,” Cas answered.

                “There is absolutely no sign of healing, why didn’t you stitch this?” Dean asked as he started to clean up the blood.

                “It won’t heal until either my wings are reattached or destroyed, stitches didn’t really help, I kept tearing them,” Cas answered. Dean looked at the kit and saw a bottle of jack. He took it and opened it. He took a swig before pouring some over the wounds. Cas hissed in pain and tried his hardest not to break the table.

                “Here, chug the rest of this,” Dean said and held the bottle to him. Cas glared back at the bottle.

                “It would take twenty of those before I would even begin to feel warm,” Cas growled.

                “Right, drank the whole liquor store to get drunk,” Dean remember.

                “So what was that plan you were talking about?” Cas asked as Dean began to work on layering gauze on the wounds. Dean went over his idea as he worked.

* * *

                Demon Dean stood across the table from Sam.  Sam was making a list of ingredients they needed.

                “Hey, are we good?” Dean asked. Sam looked up and thought about it.

                “Yeah, we’re good,”

                “Okay, what can you tell me about the reliquary that Cas broke?” Dean asked.

                “I thought we were working the purgatory angle?” Sam asked.

                “We are, just humor me, he mentioned something about it earlier,” Dean said.

                “Probably because his hands are still cut up from trying to put it back together,” Sam said. He looked at Dean, the demon didn’t seem like he was going to change the subject.

                “It was on that shelf, the item number should be on the shelf, information should on it will be in the Men of Letters database,” Sam said and pointed out where the item had been. Dean turned around to investigate it. Cas was on the floor playing with a puzzle. Dean had no idea where he got it but he was piecing it together.

                “Will you be able to pop in and out to get all these ingredients?” Sam asked as he finished the list.

                “Yes, it should only take a few minutes,” Dean said as he found the item number of the artifact. He went to the record books on the shelves around them and found the correct one. He pulled it off the shelf and sat back down at the table.

                Sam handed him the list and Dean grabbed it.

                “Be back in a minute,” Dean said and disappeared.

                Dean kept his word and a few minutes later the ingredients were laid out across the table. Dean dumped them and picked up the book he was looking in. He leaned back in the chair, kicked his feet up on the table, read over it, and raised an eyebrow.

                “A riddle?” Dean asked. Sam worked the ingredients Dean had brought him.

                “What?” Sam asked.

                “It says here that jar contains a riddle. If the jar is opened or in this case shattered into a million pieces, the riddle is released. Answer the riddle, everything goes back to normal,” Dean read. Sam gave him a strange look.

                “Does it have the power to do all this, though? Send people to other universes? Granted Balthazar made it look easy but he’s also an arch angel,” Sam said. Dean shrugged.

                “I guess,”

                “So what’s the riddle?” Sam asked. Cas answered in Enochian without looking up from the puzzle. Dean looked over at him and listened.

                “What did he say?”

                “This says riddle is written on the reliquary and he says he tried putting it back together to figure out the riddle but you took it away from him before he could.” Dean translated and then spoke back to Cas when he thought of a question.

                “Cova Ti Tolia?”

                “Ita, Do Verta me toln,” Cas answered.

                “Oh,” Dean replied and looked to Sam.

                “What?” Sam asked, already tired of this.

                “Both sides have to figure it out…So if we answer it it’s not gonna mean jack if they don’t figure it out too,” Dean realized.

                “Maybe they already have?” Sam offered.

                “Maybe, either way let’s take care of Cas first, are you ready?” Dean asked. Sam looked down at everything.

                “Uh…yes,” Sam said but double checked everything.

                “Good,” Dean got to his feet.

                “Now, time passes differently in purgatory, we may not crawl out of hell for a while, hopefully no more than a few days.” Dean said. Sam nodded.

                “That’s fine, it will give me time to see if I can’t put that reliquary back together, it’s still in the trash over there,” Sam answered. Dean turned to Cas.

                “Alright, man let’s go, we got a date with Purgatory,” Dean said and stepped towards Cas. He could tell Cas had slipped again, he was beginning to wander off. Dean walked over to him and grabbed him around the wrist. Cas began throwing a fit and trying to fight him. He didn’t stand a chance against the demon but it was still a struggle.

                “Hurry it up Sam before he gets hurt!” Dean growled. Sam began to recite the spell and the portal to purgatory began to open up. Dean pulled Cas through and the portal slammed shut behind them. Sam was left alone in the bunker. He found the trash bin with the broken relic in it and began pulling pieces out.

 


	4. Chapter 4

                Dean walked into the garage with Cas. Dean out of habit went for the driver’s seat.

                “Uh, no,” Cas said. Dean paused and looked at him.

                “What?”

                “Sam and I are the only other ones who drive that car,” Cas said and got in front of him.

                “It’s my car! My Cas isn’t allowed to drive my car!”

                “No, it’s his car and you and your Cas are, as you said, brothers. I’m his husband, I can drive the car,” Cas replied and got into the driver’s seat.  Dean huffed and awkwardly walked around the car to get into the passenger seat.

                “I have to sit here and watch Cas drive Baby?” Dean asked as he got in the Impala.

                “Yes, you do,” Cas replied and turned the engine on. Dean looked over at Cas and smiled.

                “You’re a good husband Cas,”

                “I know,”

                Dean laughed as Cas turned on the radio and drove from the bunker. They were going to scope out the place where Cas’ wings were being kept. Sam was going to find out a way to pose as a buyer to get another look at the wings.  Dean looked over at Cas as he drove and at the ring on his wedding finger. It was a plain gold band with Enochian symbols engraved on it.

                “So when did you get married?” Dean asked. Cas looked at Dean with a look of shock on his face.

                “We compared our histories and didn’t go over when we got married? Ha! Do not mention that to him, please! He is much more romantic than you would think. He would actually be hurt that I didn’t talk about that!” Cas replied.

                “Oh you in the dog house now!” Dean said with a laugh. Cas hung his head.

                “Shit! Well, when I went to get him when Death tried to make him kill Sam, Death married us and gave us these rings. If anything happens to Dean, if he tries to remove the mark. The Mark comes to me. I have actually…looked up the spell to transfer the mark to me. I have it memorized for when the time comes,” Cas said. Dean gave him a strange look.

                “When the time comes?” Dean asked, he didn’t like the sound of that.

                “Dean was born human, the idea of immortality isn’t as casual for him as it is for me. I was born immortal. It hasn’t sunk in for him yet what immortality really means. It will when Sam begins to age. When his baby brother begins to pass for his Dad. He will want his mortality back and I will give it to him. Then he will age, I will say good bye to him and me and Baby here…we’ll just keep going I guess,” Cas said. Dean just stared at him.

                “You think he’s going to just let that happen?” Dean asked.

                “No, he’s going to be pissed, he’s going to yell, he’s going to want to kill me, and I may have to say goodbye to him right then but it will be better for him. Like I said, he holds Sam above me and I would rather see him go to heaven with Sam and relive happy memories than to see him live eternity without ever seeing his brother again.” Cas explained.

                “Hell yeah he’s going to be pissed, talk to him about that damnit! Don’t force it on him, besides he’s a demon. He’s already immortal!” Dean argued.

                “My blood will cure him, Death made him drink my blood to get back in control, he drinks some from time to time if he feels it getting out of control. Enough blood will cure him out right a lot quicker than human blood,” Cas answered.

                “Jeez, anything else you’re keeping from him? Now would be a good time to spill your guts without actually talking to him,” Dean ranted. Cas smiled at him.

                “Well, I’m pregnant,”

                “Bullshit,” Dean rolled his eyes.

                “No…really,” Cas said. Dean’s eyes went wide and he looked over at Cas.

                “Hold up, time out, flag on the play! What?” Dean asked. Cas laughed.

                “I am pregnant,” Cas said. Dean looked him up at down, this was blowing his mind.

                “Really? And how far along are you?” Dean asked.

                “Uh, about two years,” Cas answered.

                “What?”

                “Angels aren’t like humans Dean.”

                “Well explain the birds and the angels to me, will yah?” Dean asked. Cas laughed again.

                “Angels are neither male nor female we can all bare a child, the only thing that is male about me is my vessel. Angels and Humans can create a hybrid, called a nephalim. It’s a creature made from spiritual material instead of genetic. Apparently one night we made a spiritual connection that created a new soul between us. Now normally the nephalim spirit would go into the womb of the angel’s vessel, or the angel’s partner if the angel’s vessel is male,” Cas began to explain.

                “And when they’re both dudes?” Dean asked.

                “The spirit is in limbo, it can’t be born. I would have to possess a female vessel for a while,” Cas said. Dean just gaped at him.

                “What the fuck!?” Dean burst out.

                “What?” Cas asked.

                “You’re friggin’ pregnant!”

                “Yes…”

                “And he doesn’t know about this?” Dean asked.

                “No and he won’t,” Cas said.

                “Why the hell not?”

                “You know why! You’ve said it yourself! You would never raise a child in this life,” Cas answered him.

                “Yeah but you’re an angel, he’s a demon, nothing will be able to touch that kid, A kid that would be half angel itself, it’s got to have powers,” Dean said.

                “Yes, they do,” Cas said.

                “See? The kid could defend itself. The kid is just sitting there waiting to be born, you’ve got to give it a chance! I know what I’ve said about the hunting life but that was because I didn’t want my kids growing up like me and Sammy. On our own half the time, taught to fight since childhood, hunting, being hunted, no real sense of family just drama and disapproval.” Dean ranted.

                “You think this child wouldn’t be hunted? Nephalims are considered an abomination to Heaven and that’s the best case scenario. I realized it was there around the time Dean turned into a demon, if it’s half demon…it wouldn’t be allowed to be born. Should I possess a female vessel and an angel were to stumble across us, I would be killed. Then if the child were to be born, it would have to know how to fight because it would not be safe around angels.” Cas said. 

                “We’ve always known angels are dicks!” Dean said. Cas looked at him and Dean could see nothing but fear and worry. Cas looked back at the road.

                “Hey, Cas, calm down, I’m sorry. I just think you’d be great at it. I remember seeing you with your boss’s daughter…when the Rit Zien came for you. You were so worried about that little girl and all she had was a fever,” Dean reached out and put a hand on Cas’ shoulder. Cas looked over at him and gave a half-hearted smile.

                “Tanya, I had never cared for a child before.”

                “You’ve got the instinct though,”

                “Tanya and I were both lucky Dean was there, he had helped take care of Ben and Lisa’s niece, not to mention the infant shifter. He knew how to help,” Cas said.

                “Just…do him the favor and tell him. If he had the same reaction I did, he was upset when he thought Ben was his. Thought I had missed out on his whole life, I loved having a kid while I was with them,”

                “Yes, but while you were with them, you were out of the life, as soon as that life came back it fell apart,”

                “If Lisa had been an angel and Ben had been a neph…a nepha….half angel, I would have reconsidered it!” Dean replied. Cas shook his head and laughed.

                 “Ugh! You say it like that you make it sound so easy,” Cas said.

                 “Just try alright? He’s going to love having a kid especially with you. I don’t swing that way but if I did I’d be stoked even though it’s friggin’ weird that a dude is pregnant,” Dean replied.

                 “I’m not-,”

                 “You are to me! It’s weird! One last question then I’m done with it I will leave you alone about it,” Dean snapped. Cas laughed and shook his head.         

                 “What is it?”

                 “The kid…what happens to it? Will it ever give up and go back to where ever it came from, will it die, or will it just be attached to you for eternity since you plan on high jacking the Mark of Cain,” Dean asked. Cas sighed and shrugged.

                  “I really don’t know,” Cas said. Dean shook his head and looked out the window.

                  “How much further to this place?” Dean asked.

                  “Not far,” Cas breathed.

                  Cas pulled the Impala over on a gravel road. They were pretty far from town. Cas drove down a grassy path and to an abandoned house far from the road. He drove around the house and parked the Impala under a shed behind the house.

                 “What is this place?”

                 “A safe place to park the car. I know you don’t like teleporting but this is the closest we can get with Baby,” Cas said.

                 “So how far is the hike?” Dean asked.

                 “Well, once we hit the angel barrier-,” Cas put his hand on Deans shoulder and they teleported into the woods behind a mansion.

                 “Not far,” Cas said. They crouched down so they could watch the house better.

                 “How can you teleport without your wings?” Dean asked as he tried to regain his balance.

                 “That’s part of the reason my wounds won’t heal, so I can still tap into a little bit of their power. I can’t go more than a few miles and as Dean would say ‘it hurts like a bitch’,” Cas explained and hunched his shoulders forward trying to relieve a bit of the pain. .

                “Then stop it! Where’s the angel warding?” Dean asked. Cas raised his hand and revealed the hidden emblems carved into the trees.

                “You think they’d know if we messed it up?” Dean asked.

                “I don’t know, they took it down themselves for his last auction,” Cas answered, pointing out scorch marks on some of the trees. They watched the house for a moment before Dean spoke.

               “Hey what about Charlie?”

               “What about Charlie?”

               “Ask her to be your…surrogate,” Dean said.

               “I thought you were done asking about that,” Cas replied.

               “I can’t help it I feel like the kid is being aborted, don’t I get a say in it? I am the father,” Dean tried. Cas gaped at him.

               “You are not the father! You are at best the father’s identical twin!” Cas retorted.

               “Fine then I’m fighting for my niece or nephew!” Dean replied. Cas just looked at him.

               “Can we bicker about this later so we don’t get caught?” Cas asked. Dean shrugged and looked back at the building. They were quiet for a minute before Cas inwardly groaned and spoke.

               “I don’t even know if Charlie can safely be a vessel,”

               “It’s an option, you might as well get a list started in case she can’t,” Dean said and got to his feet. He walked across the barrier and Cas got to his feet.

               “Dean! What the hell are you doing?” Cas asked.

               “I’m gonna go say hello,” Dean replied and walked on. Castiel put his hands to his head and looked around them. 

               “Son of a bitch!”

               “He’s been wearing off on you!” Dean called back.

               “Bite me!”

               “Yeah, love you too honey,”

               “God, they’re just the same!” Cas growled to himself and paced the edge of the barrier like a caged tiger.

* * *

 

               Demon Dean and Cas appeared in Purgatory. Those woods were as beautiful and pure as ever. This time however Dean could feel the creatures in those trees becoming aware of them, to begin stalking them. Cas could feel them too. He looked around nervously.

              “Well Cas I gotta say you don’t seem to be glowing that brightly.” Dean remarked.

              “I don’t even have a fraction of the grace I had then,” Cas answered in English.

              “Good, then you won’t be taking off on me this time,” Dean replied. Cas turned back to him.

               “You know he did that to protect yo-,” Cas started but stopped and starred at Dean.

               “What?”

               “Your eyes are black, are you doing that on purpose?” Cas asked.

               “I am not, but you couldn’t control your glowing in here so I’m guessing I can’t control the eyes. I do feel more in touch with my demon side,” Dean said and rolled his shoulders.

               “Do you need blood?” Cas asked.

               “Your blood is too weak so just try to stay on my good side,” Dean replied and began walking. He paused and turned back on Cas.

               “There will also be no bullshit like you pulled last time at the portal, I will drag your sorry ass out of here kicking and screaming if I have to,” Dean added. Cas only nodded. The aggression was either taking hold very quickly or he was still bitter about Cas letting go the last time he was there. He also didn’t feel it was wise to argue with a full strength knight of hell when he barely had enough grace to see true forms and sense things around him.

                “You’re speaking English so I’m guessing you’re heads cleared up.” Dean said to him. Cas nodded again.

                “Seems to be,” Cas answered and did his best to keep up. Dean was setting a fast pace.

                “So talk to me about that reliquary you broke,” Dean said.

                “Oh, it was an accident…I was following what I thought where faeries, I thought they were leaving pranks around the bunker to hurt Sam and Dean. I became clear as the reliquary shattered but after that it was really blurry. I don’t remember doing this to my hands,” Cas said looking down at all the cuts all over his hands.

                “The bite mark though, I remember quite clearly,” Cas replied. Dean slowed down and turned around. He picked up Cas’ hands and looked at them.

                “This is sorta gross but bear with it,” Dean said and spit in Cas’ palms.

                “Rub them together,” Dean said. Cas reluctantly did as he was told and was surprised to find his hands to begin feeling better, the stiffness and tenderness faded though the cuts remained. They weren’t as deep as they were before.

                “I am surprised to say I did not know that demon saliva had healing properties, Thank you,” Cas said and kept rubbing his hands.

                “Yeah, when they say a demon is off licking their wounds…”

                 “They are actually licking their wounds,”

                 “Exactly, let’s keep moving,” Dean said and continued on. Cas followed him closely. The creatures inhabiting the forest were drawing closer.

                  A few more minutes came to pass and Cas paused when he felt a presence behind him. He turned around and saw a vampire a few yards behind him.

                 “Dean,” Cas said. The vampire advanced on Cas with a sick smile, he wielded a makeshift axe in one hand.

                 “Mmm Angel flesh,” He smirked. Dean turned on the vampire. The vampire got a good look at him as Dean came at him.

                 “A demon, so powerful! Will you not share the angel flesh?” The vampire asked. Dean glared at him and held out his right hand. He tried to summon the first blade to him. The mark began to glow and the vampire saw it. He began to run away.

                 “Cain! The Mark of Cain!” The vampire yelled out as it disappeared into the woods. Dean stared down at his hand when the blade did not appear.

                  “Huh…you know I don’t know why I thought that would work, my blade is in the other universe,” Dean spoke.

                  “You use it regularly?” Cas asked.

                  “Yes, it’s my blade…it just feels so weird that it didn’t come to me,” Dean replied and turned towards Cas. He grabbed Cas’ arm to pull him along. Cas flinched and pulled away from him. Dean raised an eyebrow at him and gripped him tighter. Cas yanked back and got his arm out of Deans grasp.  

                  “Come on!” Dean said firmly and tried to grab his arm again. Cas glared at him and shoved him away from him. Dean growled at him.

                   “I said I would drag you out of here kicking and screaming if I had to!”

                  “I saw your memories! I know what you did to him when you lost control of the demon! You will keep your hands off of me!” Cas yelled at him and stepped away from him. Dean looked like he had been kicked in the gut. He gaped at Cas, wide eyed, and seemed to calm down dramatically.

                  “Every time you feel the demon taking control remember that moment!” Cas told him. Dean looked to the ground and tried to compose himself.

                  “I’m sorry, I know that memory hurts…” Cas said. Dean shook his head.

                  “Do not be sorry! I need that, I need that every time I get like this. Reminding me of that will clear my head faster than any angel blood,” Dean said.

                  “Just don’t get lost in it, remember also that he, your Cas, had the virtue and love to forgive you,” Cas told him. Dean smiled and nodded.

                  “Which way?” Cas asked looking around them.

                  “This way,” Dean said and began leading him again. He continually glanced back to be sure Castiel was following him.


	5. Chapter 5

                Dean snuck up to the house and managed not to get caught. He peeked in the windows and didn’t see anyone. Dean made his way around to the front of the mansion. He found a large marble porch with glass doors to a large room on the side of the house. He went up and looked in the windows. It had a grand fire place with couches and chairs around the room. The ceiling was at least three stories high. The walls were covered in rare items, paintings, there were items on pedestals, and Dean drew in a sharp breath when he saw them.

                Up on the wall above the fire place were the wings. Enormous black feathered wings that were mounted base to base and forced to be spread out with chains. From tip to tip Dean would saw the wing span was at least thirty feet.

                “Holy shit,” Dean breathed. He also saw that the bases were tightly bandaged with blood soaked cloth. Dean jumped when the wings moved and thrashed against their chains.

                Dean looked around and tried the door. To his surprise it opened. Dean walked in and shut the door behind him. Dean eyed the mantle place, it was made of heavy oak and it was broad. He could easily stand on it. Dean got a running start and jumped up. He grabbed the mantle and hoisted himself up. He even managed to not knock anything off of it. He paused and waited to see if anyone heard him. The house was dead quiet.

                “Where the hell is everyone?” He asked quietly to himself. Dean looked up and saw the chains where just in reach. He hoped up and got a good hold of it and pulled himself up. He braced his knees against the wall and put his weight on the chain. He could see Enochian characters carved into every link. He also saw the padlock for it. He reached out to it and turned it over in his hand.

                “Angel warding and Demon warding…shit dude the only thing you haven’t warded against is humans. How hard is it to lock a door?” Dean whispered to himself and reached to grab another section of the chain. As he did Cas’ wings began to fight against their chains again and the force slammed against Dean.

“Shit,” He lost his grip and fell to the floor. Dean landed flat on his back on the floor and groaned out.

“Son of a bitch,” Dean said and turned onto his side. He froze when he heard a door open in the house. He looked around as he heard footsteps. He couldn’t make it to the doors in time so he went to the fireplace. He got up and shimmied into the chimney. He wedged himself in there high enough not to be seen but also low enough to hear. He looked up the dark chimney and shook his head.

“I’m getting to old for this shit,” Dean whispered to himself.

“Here they are,” Dean heard a man’s voice say.

“They are magnificent,” A woman’s voice said.

“Aren’t they though? Completely intact wings, minus the angel of course, they retain all their magical properties, as you can see the wings still have their color,” The man spoke. The woman gasped when the wings thrashed against the chains. Dean jolted as they made the chimney shake.

“They move on their own?”

“Well yes, the only way for them to retain their power is if the angel is still alive. They will continually try to return to the angel,”

“The angel is still alive?”

“Yes, the bandages and the wounds at the end of the wings will need to be treated and cleaned. If an infection sets in, it could result in the destruction of the entire wing. It would die.” The man explained. Dean heard a tapping, the only thing he could guess was that she was typing on a phone or tablet.

“What about the chains?” She asked.

“Enochian, there is also angel and demon warding on the lock. The angel in question is mates with a demon, we believe he may try to take the wings back,”

“And you have no security to speak of?” She asked.

“I have every sigil known to man in place, what do I need security for? Like I said that angel is not getting in here and neither is its demon companion. The Demon has a human brother but that brother is an angelic vessel, he can’t get near this place either. I’ve thought of everything I assure you,” The man said.

“Guess again, douche bag,” Dean growled to himself.

“You have the key to the chains then?” The woman asked.

“Yes, you get the keys upon full payment. The chains are complimentary,”

“How thoughtful…my boss wants to know how you guarantee the welfare of the angel,” She sounded like she was reading it off of something.

“Welfare of the angel? It’s had its wings removed, it is not well,” The man said.

“He says if it is necessary for the angel to be alive for the wings to retain their power, what guarantees do you have that the angel will remain alive, is the angel included with the wings?” She asked. The wings slam against chains much more violently than before and Dean saw a glow shine up from the floor and the whole room shook.

“That was different,”

“The angel teleported, he can still tap into the wings power, that’s why they are bleeding so much, I’ve had to have that wall washed every day! Anyway, as for the angel itself I do not have it, he is safe however. He is with the Winchesters, I understand they are very protective of him,”

“Winchesters? Those are the wings of Castiel Winchester!? Are you insane!? His husband, not mate but husband, is not a demon, he’s a knight of hell, and not even just a knight of hell, he’s the knight of hell bearing the mark of Cain. You couldn’t get lower on the demon totem pole! You have no idea what you’ve done do you? No deal! I just think the word Winchester and my boss will back out so quickly!” She ranted and began to walk away.

“Wait! Please…what if I could get you the angel?”  The man asked.

“You can’t,”

“What if I could?”

“I tell you what, you somehow get Castiel Winchester away from his husband and his brother-in-law without getting killed we’ll double the price. Triple it if the husband and brother-in-law die in the process,”

“You’d pay thirty million to see this family dead?” The man asked.

“Yes, and we’re not the only ones.” She said.

“Alright then, set up a meeting,”

“You really don’t get it do you? Fine, set your own deadline,”

“Three days should do it,”

“Three days huh? Alright, tell me do you even know what they look like?” She asked.

“Not really but that doesn’t matter does it?”

A moment passed and the man spoke again.

“Wait a minute, I know him. He was here for the auction. He was with the King of Hell. He has King Crowley on his side?”

“Oh, wait, do you mean the king of hell being escorted by a knight of hell to a public event where there are a lot of the kings enemies? Really? Say it isn’t so, you know he has a pet hell hound too?” She added.

“I have a pet hell hound?” Dean asked himself.

“You going to stick to that Deadline?”

“Yes, still shouldn’t be a problem,”

“I can’t wait to see how this turns out,”

“You won’t be disappointed I promise, Thomas will show you out,”

Dean heard the woman leave and looked down. He saw the shadows of the man pacing in front of the fire place.

“Come on Dude, get out of here,” Dean said, his arms were starting to get tired.

“Hey, what can you tell me about Knights of hell?” He heard the man ask. Dean assumed he was on a phone.

                “Spells, sigils, everything! I also need you to get an angel summoning ritual ready along with more Enochian Chains along with something to go around the angels neck, The buyer wants the angel too, I don’t get it either but they’re willing to pay up to 30 million for this- yeah, see you in a few hours,” The man said and walked from the fireplace. Dean quietly got down. He wanted a look at this guy. He got on the ground and peeked around the edge of the fire place. He saw the guy. He was a tall thing built man with blonde hair. Dean got a look at his face when he turned out the door. A high cheek boned man with sharp features.

                Dean got out of the fireplace when the door closed. He stood up and stretched. He looked at the wings again and saw the bandages soaked through and blood beginning to seep down the walls.

                “Jesus, Cas, stop teleporting,” Dean said and ran for the exterior doors. He ran back to where he left Cas. The angel wasn’t there.

                “Dear Cas, you need to find a way to shield yourself from an angel summoning and get your ass back to Baby without teleporting you understand me? Hit me back with how to get to the car from the mansion, I’ll meet you there, No teleporting!” Dean prayed.

                “I cannot protect myself from a summoning, especially if they have one of my feathers,” Cas said from behind him. Dean turned around.

                “They have all of your feathers! They are going to summon you and trap you, they found a buyer for your wings and the buyer wants you too, the plans changing. The only advantage we’ll have is they think I’m a knight of hell!” Dean said. Cas looked at him for a minute and grabbed Dean’s arm. He burned a fake Mark of Cain onto his arm and healed it into a scar. Dean gave him a strange look.

                “Now, I have an idea…can we stick to it this time?” Cas asked. Dean nodded. 

* * *

 

                “Oh God that twists my gut!” Dean groaned after they appeared further into the woods. He hunched over and Cas stumbled but caught himself before he fell.

                “Have you never teleported with a passenger before?” Cas asked.

                “No, and there’s something about this place, it’s a lot harder than it should be!” Dean growled.

                “Then we can walk the rest of the way,” Cas told him. They hadn’t walked much further when Dean remembered he could teleport and tried. This was the result. They didn’t make it the whole way and Dean’s stomach was doing cart wheels.

                “Agreed,” Dean said and stood up straight. He began walking Cas followed him. They came to the river and started to cross it when Dean froze. Cas felt them too and he turned around back to back with Dean, both ankle deep in the water. There six of them a mixed pack of vamps and other monsters.

                Dean made the first move and attacked the ones in front of him. He fought hand to hand and knocked the weapon from one of them. He got the weapon and tossed it to Cas. Cas caught it and began to fight. Dean killed his opponents quickly and came face to face with the last one. A vamp wielding a spear made and a long narrow stone on the head.

                Dean walked forward and they circled each other. The vamp made the first move and Dean did what he could to block and defend against the spear. Cas killed one of the attackers and looked to the other, a larger built man than Cas. The angel didn’t hesitate and attacked. The man was able to get in a blow to Cas’ face and knocked him back deeper into the water.

                “Cas!” Dean called and the vamp took the opportunity to impale Dean under the sternum at an upward angle. Dean punched the vamp and gripped the spear. He tried pulling on it but the tip was embedded in something so he broke the handle off and glared at the vamp. Dean’s eyes and the mark of Cain began to glow red and he gave an animalistic snarl. He stabbed the vamp through the head with the remnants of the spear.

                He turned to the creature that had knocked Cas in to the water. One hit to the gut brought the monster to its knees and Dean grabbed his head. Cas sat in water up to his chest he wiped the water from his face and slicked back his hair. He looked up in time to see Dean crush the creatures head with his hands. It died and fell to the ground. Dean turned to Cas and walk to him. He got a few steps before he stopped. His eyes returned to black and he blinked several times and held his wound. He looked up to Cas and his eyes returned to green.

                “Dean?” Cas asked. Dean’s eyes fell shut and he collapsed into the water. Cas scrambled to his feet and grabbed the demon before the current swept him away. He pulled Dean to the shore they had been trying to get to.

                “Dean!” Cas rolled him onto his back and tried to rouse him. Cas saw the end of the spear and touched it. Dean yelled out in pain and opened his eyes. They turned black again as he looked at Cas.

                “The mark can’t heal you with that in there,” Cas told him.

                “Do it quick, I think it’s stuck in a bone,” Dean growled. Cas gripped it and gave it a hard tug. Dean yelled out in his demon voice and clawed at the ground to avoid hitting Cas. The spear head had been stuck in something but it came loose and Cas was able to pull it out smoothly the rest of the way. The wound began bleeding profusely. Cas dropped the spear head and began to put pressure on the wound.

                “Why aren’t you recovering?” Cas asked more to himself and looked down at the blade.

                “That’s what I’d like to know,” Dean said. He began to cough and blood began to seep from his mouth.

                “The demon blade was made by soaking it in the blood of a demon,”

                “The demon blade doesn’t…work on…me,” Dean spoke.

                “This one was soaked in the blood of a knight of hell…you left it in your body too long, the injuries it made as it came out…” Cas realized.

                “The mark will revive you,” Cas said.

                “Dying still hurts like a bitch,” Dean growled as energy left him and the blood pooled beneath him.

                “Got stabbed in the heart last time too,” Dean managed.

                “Which way do I head? I’ll keep us moving until you are resurrected,” Cas said. Dean looked up at their surroundings.

                “That way…a few miles, look for…three trees growing together,” Dean pointed over Cas’ shoulder. Cas nodded. Dean took several ragged breathes before finally dying. The sight gave Cas shivers even though he knew this Dean couldn’t actually die.

                Cas took a breath and went back to the river. He got a drink upstream before returning to Dean and pulling the knight over his shoulders. Cas also picked up the spear head. A weapon that powerful could come in handy.


	6. Chapter 6

 

                “What’s the plan here?” Dean sat in the passenger seat of the Impala. Sam was in the back and they both listened to Cas.

                “You are going to act the part of my husband and raise hell coming into that place. Call Crowley when it happens and he will send other demons to help if you use the code word Geronimo,”

“Geronimo?”

“Yes, it will tell Crowley that he, no holds bar needs to show off the power of hell, that the gauntlet has been thrown and we will repay the favor.” Cas explained.

“So I will be leaving you guys owing one to Crowley,”

“Not the worst thing in the world to happen…anyway, they will attack and destroy all the warding they can, they will give off enough EMF to screw up everything in a twenty mile radius. You just play the bluff,” Cas said as he began to cast a spell on Dean.

                “What’s this?” Dean asked.

                “A spell, every time you blink your eyes will change from either normal to black or black to normal, so pay attention to when you blink. When your eyes are black it will be like you’re wearing sunglasses,” Cas said and then began to cast the spell.

                “Crowley and Sam will be going in with you. Pay attention to devils traps, do you know which ones can hold a knight of hell?” Cas asked.

                “Yes, and pay attention to ceilings and don’t trust the rugs,” Dean said. Cas nodded.

                “Anything else I should know about being him?” Dean asked.

                “You act just like him…when he’s happy. He’s a knight of hell and his husband was just kidnapped by the man who stole his wings, just imagine the fury and the attitude he would have. You feel like being a smart ass, do it, you feel like yelling, do it, you feel like hitting, or attacking, or killing any of them, do it, Be the scariest bastard you can imagine, if that takes you imitating Lucifer…” Cas explained.

                “Do it,” Dean said. Cas nodded and handed Dean, Demon Dean’s phone.

                “Anything else?” Dean asked.

                “Yes, the secret to the universe is…” Cas trailed off and nothing happened.

                “Well, I never have had good timing,” Cas replied and got up. Dean lost it. He hunched forward laughing and looked up at Cas.

                “When did you learn to tell jokes?” Dean asked. Cas shrugged.

                “I guess you’re right he’s wea-,” Cas disappeared and Dean jolted.

                “So fucking close!” Dean doubled over laughing again. He looked over to Sam whom was watching him from the back seat of the Impala with absolutely no amusement.

                “Will you call Crowley?” Sam said. Dean looked at Sam and deflated a little bit.

                “Oh come on that was funny,” Dean tried not to laugh. He quickly looked to the phone when Sam’s glare didn’t falter.

                “Ok” Dean hung his head.

                Dean took a deep breath as he waited for Crowley to answer the phone. He had the phone on speaker.

                “What is it squirrel?”

                “I am done with this piss ant collector. The son of a bitch has Cas now, I’m done, you understand me? No posing as a buyer, no giving him anymore chances God Damnit! Geronimo!” Dean growled over the phone.

                “You sure about this squirrel?”

                “Yes I am sure, I want to march through this son of a bitches front door, shove my fist down his fucking throat, and rip his heart out,” Dean just let it fly.

                “Alright, Geronimo it is then, Give me some time to gather my best and brightest, we’ll meet you at the mansion for the party,” Crowley said and hung up.

                “Nice,” Sam remarked.

                “You’ve got the blade right?” Dean asked. Sam handed him the blade wrapped in fabric.

                “The marks not real you know,” Dean said.

                “That’s what it’s kept in unless he summons it, you can’t summon it,” Sam told him. Dean nodded and scooted over to the driver’s seat.

                “So does he use it a lot?” Dean asked.

                “Yes and no, regular hunts not so much, he likes his guns, but Demons and stronger, yeah he has it with him,” Sam explained.

                “You wanna crawl up here? It’s gonna look like I’m Driving Miss daisy,” Dean remarked as he started the car. Sam awkwardly climbed into the front seat.

                “Wait, what are you doing?” Sam asked as the engine roared to life.

                “Playing the part,” Dean said and hit the gas. The tires spun in the gravel then the car charged forward as Sam scrabbled to get sitting to right way in the front seat.

* * *

 

               Cas appeared in the parlor Dean had been in. He found himself inside a ring of burning holy oil and a complicated Devils traps. He looked up to see his wings on the wall above a blonde haired man and…a red headed woman.

                “Rowena?” Cas asked. Rowena froze next to the blonde man.

                “Castiel? This was the angel? Rowena looked at him wide eyed.

                “Yes it was, You didn’t think it strange that I as asking about an angel summoning and knights of hell?” He asked.

                “Oh, Laddy that’s me que to leave! Where ever that one is, his husbands not far behind! Wicked temper than one has too!” Rowena shouted and tried to get to the door. The man pulled a knife on her and had it at her throat. Cas could see spells carved into the metal.

                “You will do as you’re told witch or you’ll have shackles on too!” He growled. Cas ran up to the edge of his circle.

                “Leave her alone!” He said. The man looked at him and waved his hand. Chains that had been on the ground behind him flew through the air and attached themselves to Cas’ hands and neck. They pulled him to the ground and held him on his knees.

                “You have magic, what did you need her for?” Cas asked. The man let go of the knife around Rowena’s neck but it remained in place.

                “He’s only Telekinetic, but he’s very good at it. That’s how he got your wings off, I channeled the power of a demon into him and he had the strength then…I just didn’t know it was you,” Rowena replied.

                “And any other angel it would have been okay?” Cas asked angrily.

                “It was a pretty good deal at the time,”

                “It always is,” Cas told her.

                “Let’s take care of that shall? Take away his voice,” The man told her.

                “Who are you?” Cas asked.

                “You can just call me a collector,”

                “No other identity to speak of?” Cas asked.

                “What did I say about his voice?” He growled at Rowena.

                “Hardly Disney material, is it laddy?” Rowena remarked and began reciting the spell. She didn’t finish it though because she could hear a noise in the distance growing louder. It was the sound of an engine.

                “See, I told you! His husband is never far behind!” Rowena yelled at the Collector.

                “It’s a car, do your job!”

                “I hear that bloody car in me nightmares, I’d recognize it anywhere!” Rowena said and used her magic to force back the knife away from her throat.

                They both stopped as the ground began to shake. He looked around the room and Rowena threw the knife away.

                “He’s going to burn through all the warding ye have to save that angel,” Rowena told him and gestured towards Cas.

                “Nothing can break all that warding,” He said. Streaks of black smoke began to swirl around the house, breaking windows, and the walls began to crack. The collector stared out the window.

                “Never laid eyes on a demons true form?” Rowena asked.

                “Those are demons?”

                “Aye,”

                The looked towards the door as they heard a loud noise in the house.

                “And one of them has just kicked in your front door, three guesses as to which one,”

                “CASTIEL!!!” They heard Dean’s voice echo through the halls. The door was busted in by demons whom began to swarm around them. Dean came in with Sam and Crowley behind him.

                “Oh, Mother, I really wish I could be surprised when you do something like this!” Crowley rolled his eyes at the sight of her.

                “Not now Fergus! Dean I swear to you, He did not tell me which angel I was summoning, I’ve just been doing a little magic for hire. You have to believe me,” Rowena said as Dean stepped up to her and glared. Dean watched her squirm before speaking.

                “Get out of my sight,” Dean said after a long pause and blinked. Rowena shivered when his eyes turned black and she ran for the door.

                “Lovely as always mother,” Crowley watched her leave with a smirk.

                “Oh, bite me Fergus,” Rowena said as she quickly left. Dean blinked his eyes back to normal and looked at the collector.

                “You, you little piss ant, have found the end of your rope. The supernatural world thought you were cute at first, maybe even a little bit useful. I’m sure Rowena was looking forward to whatever ingredient you could get her for a spell or whatever but you’re done, this is a line you can cross back from,” Dean said pulled the first blade from his belt.

                “Oh, yeah, and you’re going to kill me for this?” The Collector asked and glanced back at the knife Rowena had left on the floor.

                “No, I’m not going to kill you, I’m going to hurt you very badly and then let Crowley take you downstairs and use you to feed the dogs. Then I am going to get those wings down, return them to my husband, then take my husband home after torching this place,” Dean said with the most twisted smirk he could.

                The collector flung his wrist and the knife flew through the air and embedded into Dean’s side. Dean drew in a sharp breath and it took everything he had not to double over in pain. Dean looked down at the blade and pulled it out. The collector looked truely intimidated by Dean. Dean threw the blade to the side and stepped towards him. The collector waved his arms and threw Dean aside and into the trap with Cas.

                “Oh, now it’s our turn,” Crowley smirked and he and all the demons swarmed the Collector.

                “Dean” Cas spoke as he tried to reach Dean, the chains weren’t letting him move very much.

                “Cas? Are you alright?” Dean asked and crawled to him. He grabbed the back of Cas’ head and pressed their foreheads together.

                “That hurt like a bitch,” Dean whispered and winced at the pain in his stomach.

                “You hid it well, hold still,” Cas told him and began to heal him.

                “I’ll get you out of this in a minute,” Dean said louder and kissed Cas’ forehead. Dean got to his feet and saw that the demons had the collector in a hold in the air. Dean stepped out of the trap without thinking. Crowley looked down at the trap strangely. Then he looked to Cas. Cas averted eye contact and watched Dean.

                Dean walked up to the trapped human.

                “Please, it was only ever about the collection, curating such rare object that no one else in this world has!” The collector ranted. Dean searched him for the key. He found it in an inside coat pocket.

                “Well, in that case, if you kiss Crowleys ass enough, when you become a demon yourself, he might let you take care of his collection. You think what you’ve curated here is special and that really is…cute,” Dean replied and turned back towards Crowley.

                “Try not to have too much fun,” Dean smirked and patted the demon’s shoulder.

                “I’ll do my best,” Crowley replied, still distracted. He snapped his fingers and the demons took the collector. The fire burnt out and Dean went to Cas to get the chains off of him. The angel got to his feet and looked to the key. He made it float in the air and to the lock.

                The chain fell to the ground after being unlocked and the wings and Cas began to glow. Dean shielded his eyes and the light began to fade. Dean looked up at the wall and the wings were gone. He turned to Cas as saw him knelt on the ground with the wings on his back. The wings remained visible, they stopped glowing all except where the wings met Castiel’s back, and he held them outstretched above him. Dean quickly got out his phone and took a picture.

                “That’s really friggin’ cool,” Dean said when he noticed Sam watched him.

“Hey, I’ll probably never see my Cas’ wings, give me a break,” He replied. Sam didn’t say anything.  The base of Cas’ wings remained glowing.

                “Should they still be glowing?” Dean asked when Cas got down onto his hands and knees. The wings began to fold down. Cas completely collapsed on the ground and the wings fell to the ground over top of him.

                “Your Cas’ wings?” Crowley asked.

                “Again, never see my Cas’ wings again, you know, cuz they’re supposed to be invisible…I think their pretty,” Dean smiled at Crowley as he tried to cover up his bad wording. Sams glared deepened.

                “Yeah, I know,” Dean said and went to Cas.

                “Cas, you alright? Talk to me damnit!” Dean said and went around to Cas’ head, making sure not to step on the wings.  When Dean passed Crowley, Crowley grabbed him by the arm.

                “Hey!” Dean snapped.

                “Curious thing, my mother she doesn’t muck about with sigils, or traps, she’s very good at drawing a devils trap,” Crowley said. Dean tried to remain non-chalant and looked to Cas. The glowing faded and the wings began to disappear.

                “What the hell are you on about Crowley?” Dean asked.

                “That trap was perfect, how did you get out? Then that kiss, you kissed him on the forehead…you two damn near need a room every time I see you!” Crowley went on. Dean began to get nervous. He really had no idea what Crowley would do.

                “And to top it, the Demon I know would have ripped my head off by now for not letting him go to his little birdy over there,” Crowley said and pulled back Dean’s right sleeve. Dean went wide eyed when the mark wasn’t there.

                “He healed you when he touched you didn’t he? Who the bloody hell is this and what’s happened with the Mark of Cain?” Crowley demanded to Sam. Sam didn’t know what to say.

                “Nothing you need to worry about,” Cas spoke as he woke up. Cas got his feet and looked at Crowley, his eyes glowing with grace.

                “Really?”

                “Really. Thank you for your help, let us know when we can return the favor,” Cas spoke.

                “You can start by telling me where the real Dean is!” Crowley said.

                “Another time,” Cas told him. Crowley looked insulted but didn’t press it.

                “What about the house then? You really want to torch it?” Crowley asked.

                “Take what you want and yeah, torch it. Humans don’t need to get their hands on anything in this place,” Dean said and looked around the room. Crowley nodded and began looking through the collection.

                “Now, let’s get back to the bunker and figure out how to get you home,” Cas said and snapped his fingers. They appeared outside the bunker with Baby next to them.

                “Home sweet home,” Dean replied and opened the door. He held it open for Cas and Sam before following them inside. ’

* * *

 

                It was taking a long time for Dean to resurrect. He had laid motionless on the ground for two hours now. Cas had found the trees but there was no safe place for them to hide. If Cas had been outnumber he wouldn’t be able to fight them off in his current state. He had found a secluded place to hide until the demon arose.

                Cas jumped when Dean drew in a sharp breath. He didn’t wake up but he began breathing.

                “Ca….Cas! CAS!” Dean began to yell in his sleep Cas sat next to him and held his shoulders.

                “Dean! Dean wake up!” Cas tried to rouse him. Dean opened his eyes. He looked at Cas and a wave of relief washed over him. Before Cas could stop him Dean grabbed his face and kissed him.

                The demon paused and pulled away realizing it was the wrong Cas. Cas gave him a confused look.

                “Are…you alright?” Cas asked. Dean let go of him and went to sit up.

                “No, I’m not, where are we? I thought you would be able to find the portal no problem!” Dean growled angrily. Cas got to his feet.

                “I found it but I did not know how to open it and you weren’t waking up,” Cas answered him with the same abrasion Dean gave him.

                “Look man, I’m sorry, I thought you were him,” Dean said and rubbed his face. He tried to get to his feet but grabbed where the wound had been.

                “I understand…do you need help?” Cas asked. Dean nodded and Cas pulled him to his feet. Dean still held his chest.

                “Did the mark not heal you properly?” Cas asked. Dean shook his head.

                “I don’t know why, maybe it’s purgatory, maybe it being in another universe, maybe it’s the blood soaked spear-Just get me to hell, hell heals all wounds,” Dean ranted as Cas put one of Dean’s arms over his shoulder and held him around the waist.

                “How is that?” Cas asked.

                “So you can be wounded again, of course,” Dean answered.

“Of course,” Cas nodded and they made their way to the barrier.

They got to the portal without incident and Dean got it open. They stepped through into hell. They were somewhere down in the lower prison. Dean took a deep breath and stood up off of Cas. He began to stretch his body as the wound completely disappeared.

“Alright let’s go,” Dean said and put a hand on Cas’ shoulder. They teleported to Earth.

“So much easier out here,” Dean replied and teleported then back to the bunker. Castiel went to the door and opened it. He walked through but Dean got stuck by the door. He looked up at the ceiling and saw a complicated Devil’s trap.

“Really?” He asked. Cas turned around. He reached up to the ceiling and broke the trap. Dean walked through and Castiel followed him.

“How did I get in here in the first place?”

“You were already in the bunker,”

“How does that make sense?”

“I don’t know!” Cas grumbled as they came down the stairs.

“Hey, that only took you two days,” Sam said from the Library. Sam was at a table piecing the reliquary together with liquid nails. He was almost done.

“We will need to fix the trap by the front door, he got caught in it,” Cas said as he stood across the table. Sam looked up to Dean and suppressed a laugh.

“Yeah real funny,”

“Sorry, didn’t realize how demon proof we have this place…uhm, don’t get in the Impala,” Sam warned him.

“What did he do to baby?”

“Not your baby it’s his baby,”

“I swear to God if my car is demon proofed when I get home I’m coming back over here and kicking his ass!” Dean yelled. Sam covered his mouth at the thought. Cas reached down to the collection of shards on the table and picked up a piece he found where it went.

“May I?” Cas asked reaching for the glue.

“Be my guest, I have been starring at this thing for two days, I’d love a break,” Sam told him and passed the glue.

“Did the men of letters not take a bunch of pictures of this thing?” Dean asked.

“They did but I can’t really make out the characters in the picture, they’re just barely clear enough to help piece it together. And he’s…not even using them,” Sam rolled his eye sat Cas whom was piecing it together rather quickly.

“The dudes been playing with puzzles since I got here, I think he may have been practicing even though he was a little crazy,” Dean replied. Cas looked up to them and nodded.

“So did everything go alright?” Sam asked.

“Dean got stabbed in the heart and died, then he kissed me,” Cas said. Sam slowly looked over to Dean.

“Absolutely no filter over here huh? I was waking up and thought he was Cas, my Cas, alright, it was an accident,” Dean said. Sam looked to Cas again and saw a cut on his cheek.

“What about that?” Sam pointed out.

“That was the large monster, the one that knocked me into the river, I’m glad it was water otherwise that would have hurt a lot more,” Cas said. He put a piece in place and was able to complete all the writing on the reliquary.

Cas began to turn the vase around as he read it.

“What is the biggest difference of all? What is the difference that started it all?” Cas read out loud as he translated it.

“The difference? Between what our worlds?” Sam asked.

“I guess,”

“Well you’re still a knight of hell with the mark and the darkness was never released,” Sam tried. Dean looked up to Cas.

“Cas how do you feel about Dean?” Dean asked.

“He and Sam are my brothers,” Cas said plainly. Sam couldn’t help but smile at the angel.

“That’s a pretty big difference if you ask me,” Dean said. Sam’s eyes went wide.

“Everything you told me about your life was the same as ours up to a certain point, I bet that’s it. What was the difference that started it all?” Sam asked.

“When did you and Cas start dating?” Sam asked.

“After Naomi tried to make him kill me, that’s when we first kissed,” Dean said.

“Cas what happened when Naomi tried to make you kill Dean?” Sam asked.

“I broke the connection to keep from killing Dean then I took the angel tablet and left. I did it to protect him though he got very angry about it,” Cas replied.

“Okay, getting closer…what led to the kiss?” Sam asked.

“Uhm, I could tell he was struggling, I started talking to him, telling that he could fight it, that he needed to fight it, that I wanted him to come home, that I loved him,” Dean said.

“What did Dean say to you?” Sam asked.

“I didn’t catch all of it…I remember him saying something about family, being needed, the only clear thing I remember him saying was that he needed me, then I able to drop the blade,”

“You said you love him, our Dean said he needed him,” Sam summed up. The writing on the vase glowed blue and then the entire thing crumbled.

“Was that it?” Dean and Cas looked at each other and then at Sam but Sam wasn’t there.

“Sam!?” Dean yelled and looked around.

“In the kitchen what do you want?” Sam called back.

“How the hell did he get in the kitchen?” Dean asked and walked from the table. He didn’t get that far when the human Dean stepped into the library.

“Okay…” Dean said. Demon Dean starred at him and then looked back to Cas.

“CAS!!” Both Dean’s yelled into the bunker.

“My God, how did you manage such resonance?” Castiel asked as he joined them in the library. Demon Dean laid eyes on his Cas and he breathed a sigh of release.

                “Cas!” He called out. Castiel turned and saw him. He grinned at him and Dean ran to him. He picked the angel up and held him tightly as Castiel wrapped his arms and legs around him. They kissed passionately for a minute before pulling apart and pressing their foreheads together.

                “Hello, Dean,” Castiel breathed with a smile.

                “ _Hello, Dean,_ ” Dean imitated and kissed him again. Castiel grinned as Dean set him down.

                “Cas, your wings are they-?” Demon Dean realized he had been hugging his back rather tightly and the angel hadn’t cried out in pain.

                “They’re back, the other Dean he helped us get them,” Castiel told him. Demon Dean kissed Cas again and hugged him.

                Human Dean watched them with a smile and then took notice of his Cas standing near the entrance to the Library.

                “Hey, Cas!” Dean said with a smile and approached him slowly. They had hoped the Demon version of himself would have helped to cure Cas’ mind but they had no way of knowing if he had.

                “Hello, Dean,” Cas gave him his usual sweet smile.

                “How are you feeling?” Dean asked and walked over to him. Cas laughed.

                “Physically, I’m a little worse for wear but that seems to be par for the course around here,” Cas spoke clearly. Dean’s grin got bigger and bigger as the angel talked clearly.

                “Mentally…I feel much better. He took me to purgatory,” Cas said. Dean paused and thought about it.

                “Friggin’ Purgatory! Why didn’t we think of that!? We could have called in a favor from Crowley!” Dean growled at himself. Cas laughed.

                “I’m sure you would have eventually,” Cas said. Dean rolled his eyes and shook his head.

                “Come here!” Dean said and hugged him. Cas smiled and hugged him back.

                “Castiel,” The other Castiel called out. Cas paused in Dean’s arms and slowly pulled away as he spoke.

                “Now that is strange, looking and listening to him, especially with him being with chil-,” Cas was cut off by Dean putting a hand over Cas’ mouth. He looked sheepishly over the other Castiel. Cas gave Dean a confused look but didn’t do anything.

                “Can I have a word with him?” Castiel asked. Dean let go of Cas and the angels walked away from him. Demon Dean came over to him and stood with him as they waited.

                “Hey, uh, Thank you for helping him and having his back,” The demon spoke.

                “Yeah, no problem, thanks for helping him. I have no idea how long it would have taken me to remember friggin’ purgatory,” Dean still couldn’t get over that. Demon Dean laughed. Dean looked at the mark of Cain on his counter parts arm.

                “I gotta say, man I’m impressed. That thing kicked my ass. I mean Cas has told me about it, it wasn’t easy but you’re doing good. Whatever you do don’t get rid of that thing. The Darkness is not worth it,” Dean replied. Demon Dean nodded.

                “Yeah, your Cas shared with me his memories of the darkness. It definitely gives me a new determination to keep it,”

                “Good,” Dean looked over at the angels.

                Cas looked at his double uneasily.

                “You sure about this?” Cas asked.

                “Of course, my grace can replenish itself thanks to the deal Death made us,” Castiel replied. Cas looked at him and then down towards his stomach.

                “And what of the…”

                “The nephalim?”

                “It’s not a nephalim,” Cas told him. Castiel drew in a sharp breath as a chill shot through him.

                “You can tell?”

                “Yes, you can’t? I find that strange…or is it you didn’t want to know,” Cas inferred. Castiel hung his head.

                “It will be fine,” Castiel said and held Cas’ neck.

                “What the hell are they doing?” Demon Dean asked and stepped forward. Dean held him back.

                “Easy, I think they’re just sharing some grace,” Dean said as Castiel’s eyes began to glow blue and he opened his mouth. The grace left him and went into Cas.

                When Cas was just about full power and Castiel just about drained, Cas grabbed Castiel by the throat.

                “What are yo-,” Castiel was cut off by Cas’ grip. Cas then put a hand to Castiel’s stomach. Human Dean’s heart leapt.

                “Cas, don’t you dare!” He growled and stepped forward but he saw Demon Dean’s eyes turn black and he dove at the demon to put him in an arm lock. 

                Cas began chanting in Enochian and Dean was losing against his demon self. Demon Dean got an arm loose and elbowed Dean in the head. Dean’s vision flashed and he let go of the demon. He fell to his knees and the demon charged at the angel.

                “Cas, how could you?” Dean grumbled from the ground and tried to get his bearings.

                “Stop!” Castiel struggled to get out as he recognized the chant.

                Just as Demon Dean got to them, Cas was just about yelling the words, and there was a bright flash of light. The light faded and Cas dropped Castiel. Castiel had been changed, there was a woman crumpled on the ground before him.

                “Cas?” Demon Dean asked and went to him.

                “What the hell did you do to him?” Demon Dean snarled.

                “He’ll change back after he gives birth,” Cas said. Dean looked up from the ground and covered his mouth in shock, and tried not to laugh. He got up and was able to walk over to them. Cas looked at him and saw the mild concussion. He reached out and tapped Dean’s forehead and healed it.

                “Thanks,” Dean replied as the pain disappeared.

                “What the hell?” Demon Dean asked.

                “Uh…Castiel will have to do the explaining, but long story short you’re going to be a father,” Dean patted his shoulder. Demon Dean looked shocked and turned to Castiel. Castiel glared at both Cas and Dean furiously.

                “Oh, we should probably go,” Dean said to Cas.

                “Are they serious?” Demon Dean asked. Castiel went to talk to had to clear his throat with the new voice.

                “We should talk,” She said. Demon Dean scooped Castiel’s new body up into his arms.

                “Yes or no,” He said sternly.

                “…Yes,” He said. Demon Dean began to smile and then kissed Castiel repeatedly. Castiel hugged him and laid his head on his shoulder. She began to tear up and cry as relief washed over him. He began to smile through the tears. Castiel looked over to Dean and Cas. Both were smiling at them. Castiel mouthed a ‘Thank you.’ Dean used both hands to blow him a kiss and mouthed back ‘Good luck’. They both left the bunker and Cas transported them to their own universe.

                “Okay, so are you back, full power?” Dean asked. Cas looked down at himself. They just turned around and walked right back into a bunker. Their bunker, their home.

                “Pretty much,” He smiled.

                “Is it going to fade like the other stuff?” Dean asked.

                “It shouldn’t it was given freely and it is my own grace,” Cas remarked. Dean nodded, it made sense.    

                “So do you really think we would have ended up like that if I had really have said a different word?” Dean asked.

                “It wasn’t just one word Dean, it was all the meaning behind it as well. That Dean loved that Cas romantically. You and I did not feel that way. You…showed me what family really was. You said you needed me because you did, just like you need Sam, or needed Bobby. We’re family. I know you would die for me, I know you would go to the ends of the Earth to help me. You have before, and I hope you know I would do the same for you,” Cas said.

                “Hell, you have before too,” Dean said.

                “Yes and so has Sam. My Kin, my real…I can’t even call them real brothers, my angel brethren, wouldn’t. You showed me that I can matter to someone for no damn reason. That when I screw up I can still come home, I can still get help no matter what. Whether I have lost my grace or my sanity, when I am useless, I still have you and Sam. You genuinely care about me, you love me. And I love both you with every fiber of my being, but we’re not lovers Dean, we’re brothers,” Cas said. Dean smiled at him.

“Hell, I screw up once upstairs and I am forever branded. Apparently I’ve been screwing things up since before the time of the plagues of Egypt,” Cas added. Dean laughed.

“Makes you wonder why they sent you to get me out of hell,” Dean replied. Cas paused.

“Uhm…” Cas started. Dean froze and looked at Cas.

“Are you serious!?” Dean asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Cas replied. Dean laughed hard and wrapped his arms around Cas.

“Thank you, I love you too brother,” Dean smiled. Cas hugged him back and they made their way into the bunker’s kitchen. Cas knew Dean had to be hungry or getting hungry soon.

“To be honest, I’m glad we aren’t lovers especially if all you’re going to do is get me pregnant with demon spawn,” Cas said sarcastically as he got into the fridge and got Dean a beer. Dean looked at him with a dropped jaw.

“It was half demon!?” Dean asked. Cas nodded and he handed him the bottle.

“What is a half angel half demon even like?” Dean asked and opened the bottle.

“No one knows, there hasn’t been many to make it to birth, the ones that have didn’t see their first year,”

“Frickin’ angels,” Dean grumbled as he took a drink.

“Angels are only part of the reason. They are difficult to give birth to, in the one case that made it to birth the angel died and the demon didn’t care enough to take care of the child. I think another demon put it out of its misery,” Cas said.

“Course that was 3, 4 millennia ago. I can’t quite remember.”

“Well, Cas is strong and Dean isn’t a dead beat Dad, so they will be just fine!” Dean raised his bottle and then took a drink. Cas nodded in agreement.

                “Where is Sam by the way?” Dean asked. Cas looked up and gave him a strange look.

                “I’m not sure,”

                “Sam!” Dean yelled and Cas rolled his eyes at him.

                “Dean!? Is Cas with you!?” Sam yelled back.

                “Yeah, We’re in the kitchen!” Dean answered him.

                Cas and Dean looked over at the door as Sam came in.

                “What happened to you?”

                “You and Cas got sucked into the portal after you answered the question,” Sam said.

                “Answered the question?”

                “The question in the reliquary Cas broke, the one that sent you into another universe,” Sam replied. Dean nodded in understanding.

                “Oh, so that’s how all this happened and you mean the other Dean,” Dean smiled and hiked up his sleeve to show no mark.

                “Dean? My Dean?”

                “Yeah, Sammy it’s me,” Dean said and quickly found himself in a bear hug from his brother. Dean hugged him back.

                “Didn’t enjoy your time with Demon Dean?”

                “I’m sure if you stayed a demon I could get used to that but for the brief time he was here…it was rough.” Sam answered. Cas got into the fridge and got Sam a beer as well.

                “Yeah I bet, so do we have anything else like that lying around the bunker? Nice to have a heads up next time,” Dean replied.

                “I don’t know but we’ll find out,” Sam said and took the beer as Cas handed it to him.

                “Damn right,” Dean raised his bottle, Sam raised his too and they both stopped and looked at Cas.

                “What?”  Cas asked.

                “Get yourself a damn beer, you’re leaving us hangin’!” Dean told him.

                “Oh,” Cas retrieved a beer for himself. He joined them in lifting the bottle.

                “Here’s to family, The Winchesters brothers all three of us, Sam, Dean, and Cas!” Dean said

                “Winchester Brothers!” Sam said.

                “Winchester Brothers,” Cas smiled and they all drank.

 

~+~+~+~

A/N: sorry if that was confusing there at the end when the other Castiel became female, I just switched personal pronouns just about every other time, because the change isn’t permanent. In the horse industry ,especially when you give judging reasons, if you don’t know if the horse is a male or female you switch personal pronouns every time like ‘I placed the sorrel horse in my top slot, he was very cadenced and she had a lot of forward motion is his trot’.

I also apologize if the Cas and Castiel thing was confusing. When they were all together I used Cas for our Cas and Castiel for the other Cas.

Thanks so much for reading, I enjoyed writing it, I loved the feedback (also love that here I can reply directly to the comment, that’s nice). There will be an epilogue don’t worry, you’ll find out what happens to the little bundle of joy!  Again thanks for reading!


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue:

 

                Cas had been in labor for hours and that was scaring the crap out of Dean. It wasn’t like normal. Humans had contractions that go closer together, they hurt but didn’t syphon energy like it was from Cas. The contractions were draining his grace along with his energy.

                Cas was sitting up and leaning against the head board. They were between contractions but Cas couldn’t get comfortable. They decided to have a home delivery in the bunker, mainly because they had no idea what was going to happen and if they could explain any of it. Especially if the spell the other Castiel placed would wear off like he said. How could they explain a woman turning into a man; or rather back into a man.

                “Can I get you anything?” Dean asked her as he reached out and held Cas’ neck. The angel shook his head and muttered a ‘thank you’. Dean walked around the bed and took a seat next to Sam. His brother was dozing off in the chair he was in. It was well past midnight. Charlie was there helping with the delivery. When Charlie found out about Cas she came back to the bunker and went into full mid wife mode. She learned how to deliver babies, how to take care of expecting mothers, and just did everything she could to help.

                “We’re close, we’re getting really close,” Charlie assured them. Dean nodded and looked to Cas whom seemed to be taking the opportunity to rest.

                “I’m going to get a drink, need anything?” Charlie asked. Dean shook his head.

                “No, thanks, Charlie,”

                Charlie left the room and headed for the kitchen. She got a drink from the fridge and took a deep breath.

                “Oh, I should not have let this happen!” She scolded herself.

                “Well you did and it’s a little late now isn’t it?” A voice said behind her. Charlie turned around and found Death in the doorway.

                “Besides what are you so worried about? You can rebuild that angel in your sleep,” Death added as he walked to fridge and opened it.

                “Yes, I can rebuild Castiel easily enough but how do you restore the broken hearts of two parents who lose a child?” Charlie asked.

                “You could always scrub their memories, it’s only the three of them in that room that even know of the child,” Death offered as he began pulling food out to eat.

                “Yeah, but the parents will always have a sense of loss that they can never explain,” Another voice said. Charlie looked at the door and gaped. It was Chuck.

                “Jeez it is like looking in a fun house mirror,” Charlie replied. Death looked sternly at him.

                “You are not supposed to be hopping universes like this,” Death scolded him. Chuck shrugged and gave him a sheepish grin.

                “It’s a very special occasion. I had to see it for myself. There’s never been a hybrid like this born in my universe. Well there was the one but it only made it a few hours  so I don’t count really count that one,” Chuck said as he stepped up to the kitchen table and sat down.

                “You look good by the way, you know for being impaled with your own scythe,” Chuck remarked sarcastically. Death laughed to himself. 

                “Oh please, you think I didn’t see that coming? There’s only ever been one universe where Dean Winchester goes through with killing his brother instead of me…you want to talk about a tortured soul,” Death remarked and pulled a pickle from a jar and ate it. For as many universes there were, as many Gods or Chucks or Charlies, there was only one Death for them all.

                Chuck looked over to Charlie.

                “My Charlie was killed off,”

                “Wasn’t Chuck too?”

                “No, more like just disappeared, I needed to present myself to them with a face they knew but not a face they would try to kill me for wearing. When Charlie died it put a lot of stress of Sam and Dean. Humans don’t like the whole grieving for someone then finding out everything was not what they thought it was,” Chuck explained.

                “You could have ducked the Steins like I did, Charlie is awesome!”

                “And Chuck is adorable!”

                “Wel- Okay, yeah he is,” Charlie agreed.

                “So what are Castiel’s real chances? Because every calculation I do, at least with the laws of my universe, the angel dies every time. Even the arch angels shouldn’t be able to do it. On top of it Dean is not your average demon, he’s a knight of hell, and they’re significantly stronger. It would stand to reason their offspring would be stronger. Though Dean doesn’t have a vessel he has a body…or can he smoke out yet?” Chuck asked.

                “No, Daddy Demon doesn’t know that trick yet. I’ve got them feeding him angel blood to keep his darkest powers at bay, it’s also keeping his emotions quite human which also helps,” Death spoke as he got in into the potato chips.

                “Okay, so he’s not at full power, but still. Then I understand you have a deal in place with Castiel?” Chuck asked Death. Death nodded.

                “Yes, Castiel will stay at full grace to be able to fight and hold Dean back should he need to. His grace replenishes itself when depleted. However it is not instantaneous. The quickest I could get the spell to make his full grace restore is about a week. It cannot be stolen, only given and lost to injury or apparently child birth. If it happens slowly he can restore himself enough to stay alive but full power would take several days.” Death looked to Charlie.

                “I would suggest not letting the infant, should it live, nurse from Castiel’s grace for a few days,” Death said.

                “It should nurse from Dean’s demon power since it’s in more ample supply so just don’t leave the infant alone with Castiel until he’s had a chance to recover,” Death added. Charlie nodded in agreement.

                “What about the vessel?” Chuck asked.

                “The vessel is strong and healthy, I’ve made sure of it. I’ve controlled Castiel’s diet and even made him…her exercise. Every herb, every spell out there I’ve used to keep the vessel strong,” Charlie said.

                “I guess I could lift his pain or feed her some grace but I’ve already interfered so much. I’m not going to be able to keep my cover if I do much more,” Charlie said. Chuck shook his head.

                “I don’t think it’d work to begin with, that hybrid is going to be powerful…Why did you let it get this far anyway?” Chuck asked.

                “Why did you hop universes? Curiosity! Besides could you think of a more controlled environment? Anyone tries to hurt that kid it will have a pissed off knight of Hell and an Angel of the Lord to deal with on top of Sam Winchester. No one’s going to be able to take that kid and live. Then you’ve got a pair that won’t leave each other. If Dean or Cas dies, the other won’t abandon the child. If there’s one thing that child will learn is love, unconditional, die for your family, love. Imagine a being that powerful that loves like a Winchester! Who sees its parents love each other through literal hell and defy all odds.” Charlie tried to explain.

                “You’re hoping for a strong defender of humanity,” Chuck said. Charlie nodded.

                “Yes, one that can stand toe to toe with angels and demons. This kid if it makes it, is going to be a force to recon with,” Charlie said.

                “Now imagine that force in pain, angry, having lost someone it loves. You’ve seen all the stupid things its father has already done in that situation and he was just human,” Death piped up.

                “If it comes down to something like that, I’ll take care of it,” Charlie assured him.

                “Well if that day comes and you need help, come get me. I will bring my Cas and Dean with me. Since it was my Castiel whom actually caused this. They will have no problem cleaning up their mess whether they like it or not,” Chuck said. Charlie smiled.

                “I’ll remember that,”

                “What I am really looking forward to seeing is what happens to Castiel after the child is born. That gender spell is very strong, I’m curious to see if it is truly temporary,” Death said.

                “Oh I can guarantee it. Castiel is very articulate, he speaks Enochian beautifully and is very good with Enochian spells.” Chuck vouched for his son.

                “Hey Charlie!” Sam’s voice called through the bunker.

                “I’ll be right there!” Charlie called back. She looked at the other too.

                “Oh, I’ve hidden myself from everyone but you two and that’s quite simply because I can’t,” Chuck replied. Charlie nodded and headed out of the kitchen. Chuck looked to Death.

                “Let’s go watch a baby be born,” Chuck said. Death pulled his handkerchief out and wiped his face and hands.

                “Let’s,”

                They got to Dean and Cas’ room to find that Dean was on the bed sitting behind Cas, holding him as the angel tensed during the contraction. The contraction passed and Cas relaxed but less than a minute passed and another one came.

                “Yep, it’s time for the fun part, Cas when that happens again you need to start pushing.” Charlie said and looked at Castiel’s grace. It was depleting faster now. Charlie put a hand on Cas’ leg and tried to pass grace to her discreetly but Chuck had been right, it wasn’t working. The next contraction passed but Cas wasn’t able to do much.

                “He’s exhausted, this isn’t friggin’ normal!” Dean growled as Cas fell back against Dean’s chest.

                “Nothing about this is normal, Dean,” Charlie replied.

                “Dean help her!” Sam said. Dean looked over at him.

                “Can’t do much for him other than catch, Sam, and Charlie’s got that covered!” Dean snapped.

                “No, I mean with your powers. It’s a half demon baby right? Maybe it needs angel and demon power. Cas obviously can’t do this on his own!” Sam tried to explain.

                “Now that I did not think about,” Chuck said to Death, they both remained invisible.

                “That might work…no demon has even stuck around for the birth of a hybrid to help before,” Death answered him.

                Dean thought about it and looked down to Cas. He intertwined his fingers with hers and his eyes turned black. He concentrated of sending power through him. It began to work and Cas’s eyes began to glow with grace. A few moments later Charlie had a baby in her hands. The baby cried out and Dean grinned at it.

                “Cas you hear that?” Dean looked to Cas. Cas was unconscious in his arms.

                “Cas?”

                There was a flash of light surrounding Cas and his vessel returned to its male form but he did not awaken.

                “Cas!” Dean tried again and shook him. Dean looked over to the baby as Charlie got it wrapped in a blanket.

                “Come on, Cas look at…him?”

                “Her, it’s a girl,” Charlie tried to hide the fact she was on the verge of tears. Sam sat in his chair, his gut churning for his brother, he internally prayed that Cas would wake up.

                “Please Cas,” Dean held Cas’ face. Charlie looked to Sam and where he was sitting.

                “Sam, you may want to move,” Charlie told him. Sam looked to her and gave her a questioning look.

                “What did you tell me about Angels wings when they d-,” Charlie couldn’t finish the sentence. Dean shook his head aggressively and clung to Cas. Sam slowly got to his feet and moved to the end of the bed.

                “No, he’s not going anywhere! Damnit Cas, just look at me!” Dean begged and shook him.

                “Alright, that’s enough,” Death said and made himself visible.

                 Cas’s eyes opened and he looked at Dean. Dean smiled at him.

                “Cas, you did it,” Dean said. Cas tried to smile but passed out again. Dean looked up to Charlie and Sam. He saw Death standing in the door and he quickly laid Cas down and got to his feet. He summoned the first blade and held it towards Death.

               “You come anywhere near him so help me I will tear you to shreds!” Dean snarled. Sam and Charlie turned around to look at Death. Sam’s heart leapt as well and he grabbed one of Castiel’s angel blades from the wall and stood next to Dean. Sam reached out and pulled Charlie and the baby behind them.

               “Calm yourself Dean, I didn’t come for the angel. I merely came to see the baby. The first of its kind, congratulations. As for Castiel, he’s going to need a lot of rest, you can’t be shaking him about like that. Although if you hadn’t of helped when you did, they would both be dead right now, very clever Samuel,” Death said and stepped over to Charlie to look at the baby. Dean glanced back to check on Cas.

               “Hello little one, I’ve brought you a gift. A ring, it matches your fathers. So that you will always be able to find each other,” Death said and held up a ring. It shrank to her size and he slipped it onto her tiny finger.

                “Again, congratulations, Dean. Now let your husband rest, he’s not out of the woods yet,” Death said. Dean nodded. He took a calming breathe and put the blade down.

                “Thanks…for the gift,”

                Death smiled at him and made himself invisible. Death walked over to Chuck.

                “You had best be getting home soon,” Death told him. Chuck nodded and smiled.

                “Yes, sir as soon as I get one picture of the happy family. My Dean’s been bugging the shit out of me to find out what happens.” Chuck said. Death nodded.

                “Not a moment longer,” Death said. Chuck nodded and Death left. Chuck turned back to the scene.

                Dean looked to Charlie and the baby.

                “Can..I?” Dean started to ask. Charlie smiled at him.

                “Of course you can Dean, she’s your daughter!” Charlie said and handed her over. Dean held her very carefully and turned to his brother.

                “Sam, she’s so small,”

                “She’s beautiful Dean,” Sam told him and reached out to cradle her head.

                “She’s got two different colored eyes,” Dean noticed. One eye was bright blue and the other was a vibrant green.

                “Heterochromia, huh, well you can definitely say she’s got her fathers’ eyes,” Sam said.

                “That she does,” Dean said and glanced over to Cas whom hadn’t moved at all. Dean began to tear up and put a hand to his mouth as he looked back down at his daughter. He let out a sob and Sam wrapped his arms around his brother, careful not to squish his niece.

                “He’s going to be fine Dean,” Sam tried to reassure him. Dean took a breath to try and calm himself as he pulled away from Sam. He went to the bed and crawled into it with his daughter. He got next to Cas and pulled the angel to him. He cradled the baby in his lap. Sam gave them a worrisome look.

                “Let’s give them some time, I need a real drink,” Sam said quietly to Charlie. Charlie agreed whole heartedly and went with Sam.

                Dean kissed Cas and looked down at the baby in his hands.

                “Hey baby girl, I’m your Dad, so is he. That’s going to get annoying as hell for you. You’re going to call out for Dad and we’re both going to answer you, but don’t worry this family is worth it,” Dean told her. The baby looked up to him and smiled. Dean smiled back at her.

                ”I wonder what you’ll think of this,” Dean said and made his eyes go black. She smiled again and her eyes changed. The green eye turned black and the other glowed blue. Dean gaped at her for a minute.

                “Whoa, Dad’s eyes alright. Let’s keep that to a minimum huh squirt? It’s creepy when I do it, it’s downright disturbing when a baby does it,” Dean said and his eyes returned to normal. She did the same.

               “We’ll agree on a name when he wakes up but just prepare yourself, you may be a Roberta, we’d call you Bobby though, or a Samantha…or…,” Dean looked at Cas. He teared up again and shook his head.

               “We’ll agree on a name later, I promise,” Dean spoke to her. She began to tear up as well and cry. Dean pulled her up to his chest and began to rock her.

               “Easy, baby girl, it’s ok,” Dean tried to comfort her.

               “Hey, Jude, don’t make it bad…take a sad song and make it better, remember to let her into your heart then you can start to make it better,” Dean sang to her. His deep voice soothed the infant and she started to calm. Dean looked up towards the door and noticed Crowley standing in the frame.

              “Well look at that,”

              “Now’s not the time, Crowley.” Dean warned him.

              “I come baring gifts the happy family,” Crowley said. He held up two bottles of what looked like Grace.

             “What the hell is that?” Dean asked.

              “From all the research hell has done on your little angel spawn there, what killed the last angel that tried to cross with a demon, was a severe lack of grace. Figured Castiel was coming into short supply right about now,” Crowley replied.

              “You expect us to accept stolen grace?” Dean asked.

               “You realize hell has a few angels down in the dungeons? In order to keep them where they are they check their grace at the door and since they never check out, they won’t be needing this now will they?” Crowley asked. Dean looked at the bottles and then to Cas. He nodded.

              “Thank you,”

              “Oh don’t thank me, Castiel is useless to me dead. Don’t know if you know this but you are a lot safer for Earth and Hell if he lives,” Crowley said and handed the bottles to Dean.

              “Congratulations,” Crowley said and then walked out the door. Dean laid the baby across the bed and left one of the vials on her stomach.

              “Okay, Cas, here you go,” Dean held Cas’ neck after opening the other bottle. The grace went to Cas and he began to glow with the grace. Cas opened his eyes and looked around.

              “Dean?” He voice was hoarse but Dean grabbed him in a tight hug.

              “Sorry...I forgot how deep this voice was,” Cas cleared his throat.

              “It’s second most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard,” Dean said. Cas gave him a strange look.

              “The first was the first cries of daughter,” Dean told him. He turned and picked up the infant. Cas breathed in relief.

              “I thought for sure if I was alive she was dead,” Cas said and held her to his chest. Dean took the other vial of grace. He noticed it was half empty.

             “Wait…this was full a minute ago,” Dean said.

              “She drank it, She doesn’t need to eat so she will nurse from my grace until she can sustain herself. She may possibly need some of your demon energy since she is half demon,” Cas explained.

              “Ahh then she can hang on to this, we don’t need her taking from you until we’re sure you’re 100 percent,” Dean said and gave the bottle back to the infant.

               “I feel alright…just exhausted,” Cas said. Dean kissed him.

               “Then sleep,” Dean said and took the baby. Cas leaned against him and Dean laid the baby down between them. Cas reached out to her and she wrapped her fingers around his pinky. Cas fell asleep against Dean. Dean himself was tired and fell asleep with his family in his arms.

                “There we go,” Chuck said with a smile. He took a picture and then made his way back to his universe after refilling the baby’s bottle with grace.


End file.
